CENTENNIAL IN NEW BEDFORD. 



HISTORICAL ADDRESS 



HON. WILLIAM W. CRAPO. 



I>i;i.I\ KItl'.I) f)\ llli: (>(•( ASION OK INK 



CELEBRATION IN NEW BEDFORD 



FOURTH OF JULY, 1876. 

TO WHICH ARE ADDED AX ACCOUNT OF THE CEI.EBIJA- 
TION, AND AN APPENDIX. 



m;i.i--iii;i) \\\ oi;i)i:i; oi' tiik < ri'\' (oi N( il. 



NEW BEDFORD: 

E. Anthii.w & Soxs, Peixteks to tih: Citv. 
187G. 




^ 



f3 



Ceuteiiuial in New Bedford. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Page 

Order of Council, 7 

Advertisement of Committee, 8 

Introduction, 9 

Address, 17 

APPENDIX. 

Deed from Wesamequen and Wamsutta to William Bradford and 

others, 59 

Order of Incorporation of the Town of Dartmouth, fiO 

Territorial Limits of Dartmouth, 61 

TJussell Family, fil 

Primitive Whaling, CA 

Memoranda in relation to the Whale Fishery and Commei'ce of 

New Bedford, by Abraham Shearman, Jr., 67 

Memoranda in relation to the Early History of New Bedford, by 

Abraham Shearman, Jr., 71 

The Ten-Acre Lot, 74 

The Stars and Stripes in the Thames, 76 

Act of Incorporation of the Town of New Bedford, 79 

Act of Incorporation of the Town of Fairhaven, 81 

Line between New Bedford and Dartmouth altered, S2 

Part of Dartmouth annexed to New Bedford, 83 

Part of Acushnet annexed to New Bedford, 84 

General Grey's Raid, 85 

Town Meeting in 1814, 86 

New Bedford in the War of 1812-15, 87 

Ship Rebecca, 90 

Interesting Town Meeting, 92 

New Bedford in 1845, 96 

Whalers Destroyed by the Confederate Cruisers, 112 

2 



4 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Kaue 

New Bedford Free Public Library, 114 

New Bedford in the Civil War, 180 

Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, . 135 

Roll of Honor, ... 137 

Public Schools of New Bedford, 149 

Public Schools of New Bedford in the Centennial, 157 

High School House Dedication, . 159 

Description of the New High School House, 167 

Finances and Taxation, 170 

Mayors of New Bedford, 173 

Government of the City, 1876, 174 



Proceedings of tlie City Council 



AND ol TllK 



COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS. 



(Titu 0f l^c'i\3 13rlif0vli. 

IX EOARD OF AlDERMEX, 

August 15th, 187G. 

Ordered, That the proceedings had upon the occasion of the Munici- 
pal Celebration of our Centennial Anniversary be published, and 
that His Honor the Mayor, and the Chairman of the Committee on the 
Fourth of July Celebration, be a committee to carry this order 
into effect. 

Adopted in concurrence. 



The committee of tlie City Government, charged by the (•(Hiii- 
cil's order of August lotli with the duty of arranging for puhlica- 
tion the proceedings upon the occasion of the Municipal Celelirii- 
tion of our Centennial Anniversary, present herein the result u\' 
their labors. 

A brief introduction precedes the address of the Hon. William 
W. Crapo ; and in an appendix to his interesting and highly valu- 
able Historical Discourse, such documents are given connected 
with the early history and with the growth and progress of our 
city, as seemed calculated to gratify the desire for further infor- 
mation upon these subjects so vividly awakened by that admirable 
contribution to our local amials. In the discharge of our duties 
we have been materially assisted by our fellow-citizen James B. 
Congdon, whose large collections and intimate acquaintance with 
our local history have contributed in no small degree to the value 
and interest of our centennial volume. 

AURAIIAII H. HOWLAXD, du. 

William T. Soule. 



The Centennial in New Bedford. 



INTRODUCTORY. 

The arrangements for the celebration of the Centennial Anni- 
versary of. our National Independence Avere commenced by the 
passage of an order, of which the following is a copy. 

CENTENNIAL IN NEW BEDFORD. 

€itv of Web BcSforJ. 

Ix Common Council, 

April 6th, 1876. 

Ordered, Tliat a committee of six from this branch, with such as the 
Aldermen maj^ joiu. be appointed a committee on Fourth of July 
celebration. 

Adopted in concurrence. 

Committee — Aldermen Soule, Ilawes, and Baylies, and Councilmeu 
Taylor, Howland, Denison, Beard, Pitman, and Wilbur. 

Au appropriation of four thousand dollars was made by the 
Council to meet the expenditures of the committee. 

It did not need the recommendations of the State and United 
States governments to lead the committee to give careful attention 
to that part of their duties that consisted in providing for an ad- 
dress suitable to the occasion. After some progress had been 
made in the negotiations for au orator, the circular of which the 
following is a copy was received from the Secretary's Department 
of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 
li 



10 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

ffi^omtnonbiealtf; of fBlassacfjusctts. 

Secretary's Department, 

Boston, June 13th, 187G. 
To the City Clerk : 

Sir, — I have the houor to transmit herewith an order of the Legis- 
lature of Massachusetts, which has this day been received iu this de- 
partment, and a copy of the Resolution of Congress therein referred to. 
Very respectfully your obedient servant, 

HENRY B. PEIRCE, Secretary. 

(JTommoniBraltl) of itlassacljusrtts. 

House of Representatives, April '27, 1876. 
Ordered, That the Secretary of the Commonwealth transmit to the 
Clerks of the several cities and towns in the Commonwealth, a copy 
of the Joint Resolution of Congress on the celebration of the Centen- 
nial in the several counties or towns, transmitted to the Senate by his 
Excellency the Governor, April 24th, 1876. 
Adopted. Sent up for concurrence. 

GEO. A. MARDEN, Clerk. 

Senate, April 28, 1876. 
Concurred. 

S. N. GIFFORD, Clerk. 

[Public Resolution No. 1.] 

Joint Resolution on the celebration of the Centennial in the several 

counties or towns. 

Be it resolved by the Senate and Hortse of Representatives of the United 
States of America, in Congress assembled, That it be, and is hereby 
recommended by the Senate and House of Representatives to the 
people of the several States that they assemble in their several coun- 
ties or towns on the approaching Centennial Anniversary of our Na- 
tional Independence, and that they cause to have delivered on such 
day an historical sketch of said county or town from its formation, 
and that a copy of said sketch maybe filed, in print or manuscript, 
in the Clerk's office of said county, and an additional copy, in print or 
manuscript, be filed iu the office of the Librarian of Congress, to the 
intent that a complete record may thus be obtained of the progress of 
our institutions during the First Centennial of their existence. 

Approved March 13, 1876. 

With entire unanimity tlie committee fixed upon the Hon. 
William W. Crapo, of this city, member of Congress from the 
first representative district, to perform this honorable and important 
service. Not only the eminent abilities of Mr. Crapo led the 



MUNICIPAL PROCEEDINGS. 



11 



committee to look to him as a fitting person to carry ont their idea 
as to the character of the address, and the views of the General 
Government as expressed in the resolution of Congress : the 
success of his effort in the same line of literary labor in the cele- 
bration of our Municipal Bicentennial in 1864, pointed to him as 
one possessing rare qualifications for the work, and the committee 
were highly gratified when he consented to undertake it. 

The orator being secured, the committee gave their attention 
to the other arrangements proper for the occasion. The result of 
^ their labors is shown by the programme which they put forth, of 
which the following is a copy of the principal features. 

One Hundredth Anniversary of our National Independence. 

July 4th, 1876. 
PROGRAMME. 

BELLS. 

The bells of the various churches will be rung at sunrise, noon, and 
sunset. 

SALUTES. 

A Natioual Salute will be fired at sunrise, noon, and sunset, by 
Lieut. H. H. Fisher. 

BASE BALL. 

At 8 o'clock a game of Base Ball will be played on the Common 
between the Taunton Base Ball Club, of Taunton, and the King Philip 
Club, of Rockland, for a prize of $250. 

PROCESSION. 

At 10 o'clock a Grand Procession will be formed on City Hall 
Square, under the direction of Capt. Lucius H. Morrill, Chief Marshal. 

ORATION. 

Au oration will be delivered at Liberty Hall by Hon. William W. Crapo. 

Rl'.GATTA. 

The Regatta will take place on the Acushnet river, starting from a 
line drawn from the north end of Fish Island to the George Rowland 
wharf, the course to be northeasterly about one mile to the station 
buoy and return. The races will be in the following order : 

First, for single scull, 1st prize, 840; 2d prize, $20; 3d prize, $10. 

Second, for whaleboats, 1st prize, .<i!60; 2d prize. $30; 3d prize, $1.5. 



12 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

Third, for double-oared working boats, 1st prize, $40; 2d prize, $20. 
The tub race will follow that of the working boats near the same 
locality. 1st prize, .^lO; 2d prize, $5. 



At 5^ o'clock a Grand Balloon Ascension on the Common, by Prof. 
James R. Allen, aeronaut, of Providence, in his celebrated balloon 
Monarch. 

FIREWORKS. 

At 8 o'clock, on the Common, a Grand Display of Fireworks will 
form a fitting termination of the festivities of the day. 

WM. T. SOULE, 
JON. C. HAWI<:S, 
JOHN B. BAYLIES, 
JOHN P. TAYLOR, 
WM. H. PITMAN, 
LEMUEL C. WILBUR, 
JON. ROWLAND, Jr., 
. WM. A. BEARD, 
HENRY C. DENISON, 

Committee of Arrangements. 



The arrangements made by the committee were carried into 
execution in a manner that gave great satisfection to the citizens, 
and reflected much credit upon all who were concerned in the plan 
or its performance. 

The procession was one of the most attractive that had ever 
been seen in our city. We present its details as published in the 
newspapers of the .'ith. 

FIRST DIVISION. 

Detachment of Police. 

Martland's Band, of Brockton, William J. Martland Leader, 25 men. 

Capt. Lucius H. Morrill, Chief Marshal. 

Col. Samuel C. Hart, Aid. 

New Bedford City Guards, Capt. Daniel A. Butler, 3G men. 

William Logan Rodman Post 1, G. A. R., William G. Davis S. Y. C, 

50 men. 

Robert G. Shaw Post 14G, G. A. R., George T. Fisher P C, IC men. 

Schouler Guards, Capt. James R. Reynolds, 32 men. 

Disabled Veterans in Carriages. 



MUNICIPAL PKOCEEDINGS. 



SECOND DIVISIOX. 



13 



Smith's American Band, Israel Smith Leader, 24 men. 

Frank H. Forbes, Marshal. 

Major James F. Chipnian, Commander Centennial Battalion; Edward 

T. Chapman, Adjutant; Charles S. Paisler, Quartermaster. 

Centennial Guards, Leopold Bartel Captain, Ezra K. Bly 1st Lieutenant, 

William O. Cross 2d Lieutenant, 40 men. 

Yankee Volunteers, S. C. Spooner Captain, Kobert W. Taber 

Lieutenant, 20 men. 

Loyal Orange Lodge 'So. 40, Samuel Thompson Master, 32 men. 

American Protestant Association, James Lowe Marshal, 20 men. 

Mayor, Orator of the Day, and Chairman of the Committee of 

Arrangements. 

City Government. 

Officers of United States Service. 

Invited Guests. 

THIRD DIVISION. 

Union Cornet Band, Gustavus Ran Leader, 20 men. 

Thomas J. GifFord, Marshal. 

Engineers of the Fire Department. 

Pioneer Hook and Ladder Company, Philip M. Tripp Foreman, 21 men. 

Azores Band, G. A. Gustin Leader, 20 men. 
Zachariah Hillman Steam Fire Engine Company, No. 5, William A. 

Russell Foreman, 22 men. 

Hancock Engine Company, No. 9, Keuben Washburn Foreman, 23 men. 

Truckmen's Association, Holder R. Tripp Captain, Peter Crapo 

and Francis Brownell Lieutenants, William J. Tripp 

Standard Bearer, GO men. 

Procession of Trades. 

There was perfect order throughout ; the music was abundant 
and delightful ; the military companies never appeared to better 
advantage ; the firemen in their neat and appropriate costumes, 
orderly and prompt in their movements, told of the boldness and 
efficiency of that branch of our municipal service ; and the truck- 
men and the procession of the trades were striking and interesting 
features of our centennial celebration. In short, all who took 
part in the parade seemed to have done all in their power to give 
efficiency, attractiveness and impressiveness to the exhibition. 

There were two of the numerous divisions of the grand pro- 
cession which from tlieir peculiar character and the perfection of 
everything that belonged to them, constituted features of the dis- 



14 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

play in a high degree approj^riate and striking. Nothing could be 
more appropriate to the occasion than the presence in the line of a 
body of Centennial Guards, and a company of New Bedford Fii'e- 
men with a splendid and perfect steam fire engine. The guards 
were there, the firemen were there, and the engine was there ; and 
the people of New Bedford will not soon forget the strong and de- 
lightful impression made by their presence and completeness : the 
guards forming a vivid and faithful picture of the revolutionary 
period, and of the men by whom its battles were fought ; the 
engine, with its environment of young, hardy, resolute and well 
trained firemen, and its three-pair team of noble horses, seemingly 
as proud of their work and position as if they were attached to 
the war-chariot of a Grecian general, by its artistic beauty and by 
its rare combination of the skill of the artisan and the genius of 
the engineer, presenting a striking and significant monument of 
the progress in the one hundred years of our national life, not 
only in our methods of dealing with the fire king, but in the whole 
domain of science and the mechanic arts. 

The boat races were exciting and satisfactory. They were wit- 
nessed by a vast multitude. These exhibitions are always attract- 
ive. A Cornell crew could not have handled a New Bedford 
whaleboat with the skill and success of our New Bedford oarsmen. 

The display of fireworks upon the common, to use the words of 
the committee, "formed a fitting termination to the festivities of 
the day." 

An accident prevented the ascension of the balloon. A suc- 
cessful ascension a few days after made amends for the disappoint- 
ment. 

EXERCISES AT LIBERTY HALL. 

The exercises at Liberty Hall took place after the dismissal of 
the procession. They were opened by a prayer by Rev. Oliver A. 
Robei'ts. This was followed by a hymn written for the occasion, 
and sung by a quartet composed of Messrs. Wood, Littlefield, 
Tinkham, and Morton. Hon. William W. Crapo then delivered 
his address, after Avhich, as the closing exercise, the choir sang 
"The Flag that's waved a Hundred Years." 

The orijrinal hvmn follows. 



MUNICIPAL PROCEEDINGS. 15 

HYMN FOR THE CENTENNIAL. 

BY JAMES B. CONGDOX. 

Eternal Source of life and light! 

Let all the people praise thy name : 
To thee, enthroned in glory bright, 

We raise our song with loud acclaim. 

God of the Nations, Sovereign King! 

Thy children at thy footstool kneel : 
Accept the sacrifice we bring; 

Thy glory in our hearts reveal. 

Firm in thy might our fathers stood, 

Faithful to liberty and thee; 
Undaunted, on the field of blood, 

They struggled, triumphed, and were free. 

In peril's darker, sterner hour. 
When treason grasped the nation's life. 

It stood, protected by thy power. 
Victorious in the deadly strife. 

A NATION BORN ! A NATION FREE ! 

Its century of being tilled 
With wonders all proclaiming thee, 
That thou hast wrought, that thou hast willed : 

Of these we sing, with rapture crowned 
Our hearts their grateful homage bring,— 

Send to the skies, with joyful sound. 
The praise of heaven's Eternal King ! 

The address of Mr. Crape, which we now present to our fellow- 
citizens and the country, comes up to the high standard for such 
discourses he has himself established, and to the ideal of the peo- 
ple and the government in the conception and recommendation of 
the arrangement by which the towns, cities, and counties of the 
Union Avere to be provided, through the instrumentality of the 
Centennial Celebration of the Declaration of Independence, with 
full and reliable "• historical sketches" of their respective commu- 
nities. Such was the judgment of those who heard it delivered ; 
such, we feel assured, will be the verdict of all who shall read it, 
and particularly of those in official position by whose efforts this 



16 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

feature of the celebration originated and had impressed upon it 
the sanction of governmental authority. 

The citizens of New Bedford are to be congratulated upon this 
valuable accession to the memorials of our local history, so reli- 
able and comprehensive iu its facts, so lucid in its statements, so 
faithful to the deeds and characteristics of our people, and so 
attractive and sustained in the purity of its diction, and the graphic 
beauty of its descriptions. 

A few notes, illustrative of the statements of the text, have 
been added. In the appendix will be found certain documents 
connected with our municipal annals and local history, which it 
seemed proper to publish iu connection with the address. 

Our people will find iu the •'historical sketch" now presented 
to them a faithful and life-like picture of the first hundred years 
of our business, social and municipal life. It is a record to which 
we may confidenlly appeal as an evidence of the high character 
of those who have beeu the makers of New Bedford's historv. 



j^IDnDE.ESS 



OF THE 



HON. WILLIAM W. CRAPO, 



Cttg of ^tia iSeHforb. 

Ix Board of Aldermen, 

August loth, 1876. 
Ordered, That a vote of thanks be, and the same is hereby tendered 
the Hon. William W. Crapo, for his very able and excellent address 
delivered at Liberty Hall July 4th, 1876, upon the occasion of the 
celebration of our Centennial Anniversary. 

Adopted in concurrence. 



ADDRESS. 



A resolution of the Congress of the United States has 
recommended that the people of the several states assem- 
])le in their counties and towns upon this the one hun- 
dredth anniversary of our national independence, and 
that an historical sketch of each county and town be given, 
which shall be preserved in manuscript ^or print, and filed 
in the office of the Librarian of Congress, " to the intent 
that a complete record may thus be obtained of the pro- 
o-ress of our institutions durinir the first centennial of 
their existence." 

This recommendation has received the sanction, by of- 
ficial proclamation, of the President, and the Governors 
of the States, and has met with ready and general adop- 
tion by the people. 

The importance of this simultaneous effort for the pres- 
ervation of local history in the record of facts now within 
reach and which might be forgotten, and in the collection 
of statistics now seemingly of trivial consequence, but 
essential to the future histoi-ian, can hardly be over-esti- 
mated. The Fourth of July oration of the olden time, 
with its appeals of patriotic fervor, often Avith stilted 



22 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

rhetoric and boastful descriptions of the past and extrav- 
agant prophecies for the future, but still In'eathing a love 
of country and a devotion to the National Union, are to 
give place at this time to the simple recital of the events 
and achievements of the several communities. The task 
of today can best be fulfilled by a plain narrative, which, 
while familiar in its details and containin": nothino; of nov- 
elty to us, may aid, by its contribution to the general 
fund, to exhibit the marvellous growth and progress of 
our common country during its first century. 

A brief and condensed account of the birth and growth 
of New Bedford, our own beloved and beautiful city, is 
then the task to which you have called me. This duty is 
made comparatively easy by the careful and conscientious 
work of those who have preceded me. Seventy years ago 
Abraham Shearman, Jr., a scholarly and kind-hearted 
member of the Society of Friends, sought to perpetuate 
some of the local events of his own time in a contribution 
to the Massachusetts Historical Collections.* And we 
have in a permanent and attractive form the results of the 
elaborate research of our local historian, Daniel Ricket- 
SON, who describes with the enthusiasm of a genuine 
lover, the scenery, events, and men of his native town. 
And to our esteemed fellow-citizen James B. Congdon 
we owe a debt of gratitude, for he has done more than all 
others for the collection and preservation of those perish- 
able materials to which the future historian and the curi- 
ous student in family genealogy and l)iography Avill turn 

* a more important paper than that contributed by Mr. Shearman to the Massachu- 
setts Historical Collections was prepared by him, the manuscript of which is iu the 
hands of the compiler. It will be found in the appendix. 



ADDRESS. 23 

with grateful appreciation. Neither should I omit to 
mention in this list of those wlio have put in lasting form 
the record of the past the name of William A. Wall, 
whose artistic genius has illuminated some of the promi- 
nent pages of our history. His pictures* of the " Land- 
ing of Gosnold," the "Origin of the Whale Fishery," 
and the " View of the Four Corners in 1800," accurate in 
detail and truthful in the portraits of the leading actors of 
those times, are of such value in illustrating the earlier 
periods of our history that they should be placed in the 
ownership of the city. 

Before considering the prominent events of the century 
now closing, I will briefly refer to the earlier history of 
the settlement of this territory. The original purchase 
was made of the Indians, Wesamequenf (otherwise known 
as Massasoit) and his son Wamsutta. The deed bore 
date at New Plymouth, November 29th, 1G52. The tract 
conveyed embraced all of the shore commencing three 
miles eastward from the Acushnet river, and ending at a 
flat rock on the westward side of the harbor of Acoaksett, 
and extending " from the sea upward to go so high that 
the English may not be annoyed by the hunting of the 
Indians in any sort of their cattle." The consideration 
paid was " thirty yards of cloth, eight moose-skins, fif- 
teen axes, fifteen hoes, fifteen pair of breeches, eight 
blankets, two kettles, one cloak, £2 in Avampan, eight 
pair stockings, eight pair of shoes, one iron pot, and ten 

*The lii-st named of these pictiu'es is in the possession of Mr. William r. S. Caij- 
AVELL, the second of 3ns. Sarah Rodm.wj Morgan. The " Four Corners " picture 
lias been engraved. Tlie original is owned by Hon. Joseph Grixnell. 

t The deed from AVesaraequen to Bradford -will be found in the appendix. 



24 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

shillings in another comoditie." * We have no tradition 
which tells us in what form the last item of ten shillings 
payable " in another comoditie" was made. 

In June, 1664, f by an order of the Plymouth Court, 
the mother town of Dartmouth received its simple char- 
tered organization, which gave to the inhabitants the 
" liberty to make such orders as may conduce to their 
common good in town concernments." 

The first settlers upon this territory were Kalph Russell 
and his son John Russell, and Anthony Slocum, who built 
an iron forge at Russell's Mills, and John Cooke, whose 
home was at the head of the Acushnet river. 

The Russell's Mills settlers were not original proprie- 
tors in the deed of 1652, but John Russell purchased the 
thirty-fourth part or share of Capt. Miles Standish, as 
appears by deed dated March 9th, 1664. John Cooke 
was an original jiroprietor. These two persons were the 
leading men of the town. John Russell was the first rep- 
resentative to the Old Colony Court, in 1665. The three 
years following John Cooke was the representative. Then 
followed John Russell for four years ; and during the first 
twenty 3^ears of our municipal existence these men suc- 
ceeded each other at Plymouth. Jn 1667 the court at 
Plymouth authorized John Cooke to make contracts of 

*Tlie proprietors of the teri'itory of Djirtmoutli became, under an order of the 
Plymouth Court, a quasi corporation, whicli coutiuued in existence for about one 
hundred and seventy years. Under this authority their lands were conveyed. Their 
i-ecords, which ai*e very voluminous, have been coijied by direction of the County 
Connnissioners under an act of the General Court, and the copy, with a copious 
index, is deposited in the office of the Register of Deeds, at the Court House in this 
city. The original records, Avith Benjamin Crane's field-books, are at the Free Pub- 
lic Lil)rary. Abner B. Giflbrd, of Westport, was the last clei-k. 

t See appendix for the Court Oi'ders gi-auting municipal rights and fixing territorial 
limits. 



ADDRESS. 25 

marriage in the town of Dartmoutli, to administer oatlis, 
to issue warrants in his Majesty's name, to bind over 
persons to answer to the court at Plymouth, and "to give 
forth subpoenies to warn witnesses." He was also for 
many years a Baptist minister in Dartmouth.* 

Two hundred years ago, in 1676, this locality was de- 
vastated by a cruel Indian war, full of barbarity and 
atrocity, carried on by King Philip, the younger brother 
of "VVamsutta. The Plymouth Court took into serious 
consideration " the tremendous dispensations of God to- 
ward the people of Dartmouth, in suffering the barbarous 
heathen to spoil and destroy most of their habitations," 
and it was ordered that in the rebuildino- and resettline: 
they live compact together, so that they may be better 
able both to defend themselves from the assault of an 
enemy, and to attend the public worship of God. 

At this time (1676) most of the dwellings in the town 
had been destroyed, and many of the people killed. 
Those who remained retired into Russell's house at Appo- 
nagansett, which was converted into a garrison. f There 
were other garrisons within the limits of the old town, 
one of which was on Palmer's Island, and another on the 
east bank of the Acushnet, near the Isle of Marsh. 

The Acushnet Great Swamp and the Appouagausett 
Great Swamp were the convenient lurking places for the 
Indians, into which the settlers could not safely follow 
them. 

Upon the death of King Philip, our fathers were en- 



*Back\is's Church History, p. 135. 
t Baylies Memoir, vol. 2, p. 47. 



20 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

abled to rebuild their homes and again devote their ener- 
jries to subduins: the wilderness.* 

John Russell, who with his father Ralph Russell and 
Anthony Slocum operated the iron forge at Russell's 
Mills, and whose death occurred in 1694, did not reside 
within the limits of the present city. His son Joseph 
was born in 1G50, and during the war lived at the Appo- 
nagansett garrison, where his twin sons Joseph and John 
were born Nov. 22d, 1679. He moved from the Appo- 
nagansett river to the Acushnet prior to 1711, and re- 
sided at what is now the corner of County and South 
streets. Joseph Russell, born at the garrison, afterwards 
resided at what is now the corner of County and Bush 
streets, where in my boyhood stood the "little school- 
house " in whose yard was the well used by this early 
settler. The title of the lands of the Russells was con- 
firmed by her Majesty's (Queen Anne's) Justices of the 
Court of Quarter Sessions for the County of Bristol, May 
25, 1711. The survey had been made b}^ Benjamin 
Crane, who, under the "eight hundred acre division," 
established the original boundaries. 

The son of the last named Joseph Russell, also named 
Joseph, was born on the 8th October, 1719, and died on 
the 16th October, 1804, aged 85 years. f We may fairly 
consider this last named Joseph Russell as the founder of 
our city. He owned the tract of land bounded on the 

* Aid was coutributed from various .sources for the relief of Dartmouth wlien thus 
desolated; and it is an interesting fact that a liberal contribution came from Ireland. 
We were but paying an old debt when we sent assistance to the destitute people of 
that country. 

t An interesting account of the Russell family, by William T. Russell, a grandson 
of the founder of our city, is jmblished in the appendix. 



ADDRESS. 27 

south by land of his brother Caleb, the division line bemg 
midway between the present Bedford and Russell streets, 
and on the north by land of Manasseh Kempton, whose 
division line was between the present Elm and William 
streets, and bounded easterly by the river. His home- 
stead was on the County road, as it was called, between 
the present Court House and the residence of Mrs. Chas. 
W. Morgan. He is described as " a man {»f great indus- 
try, prudence, and enterprise, and of strict integrity of 
character, a large farmer and extensive landowner." He 
was also engaged in mercantile business, owning several 
vessels trading at southern ports and the West Indies. 
He was the tirst to engage in the whale fishery, and to 
establish a sperm oil factory in New Bedford. 

The history of the New England whale fishery is so in- 
terwoven with the history of New Bedford during the last 
century that they cannot be separated ; and no record of 
the orrowth and business of our town and citv can be 
complete without it. Our wealth, our population and 
our progress have been the fruits of this industry; and 
our position and fame among the cities of the world is 
due to its successful prosecution. 

The first whaling by New England men was doubtless 
done by the inhabitants of Cape Cod. In the records of? 
Nantucket, in 1690, it is written, "One Ichabod Paddock 
came from Cape Cod to instruct the people in the art of 
killing whales." In Edward Randolph's narrative, writ- 
ten for the Lords of Trade in October, 1076, in describ- 
ing the resources of the Colony of New Plymouth, he 
savs, "And here is made a good quantity of whale oil, 



28 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

which fish they take upon the coasts." * The business 
was then carried on in boats from the shore. As early 
as 1715 we find the people of Nantucket pursuing the 
whales upon the ocean in small sloops and schooners, 
making voyages of a few weeks' duration and bringing 
the blubber home and trying out the oil on shore. 

In 1751 there were two or three vessels from Appona- 
gansett river engaged in this fishery. These vessels were 
owned by John Wady and Daniel Wood. There were, 
at this date, one or two vessels in this business from the 
Acushnet river, owned b}^ Joseph and Caleb Russell. 
Up to this time whales were principally taken between 
George's Bank and the capes of Virginia ; and the voyages 
continued from four to six weeks. Soon after the whale- 
men extended their cruising grounds to the eastward of 
the Newfoundland const, and the voyages were lengthened 
to three months. 

At first, more vessels were fitted from Appouagansett 
river than from the Acushnet ; but soon the superior ad- 
vantages of our harbor became apparent, and the Appo- 
uagansett vessels were fitted here.f 

Consider for a moment the aspect of our town when 
these two or three little sloops were fitting for their whal- 
ing voyages. The present site of the city was a forest. 
There was a " try-house" near the shore, (at the foot of 
Centre street,) and a rough cart- way led through the 
woods to the few farm houses on the County road. 

The Rev. Paul Coffin, who ten years later (July 21st, 

*See appeiiflix for an account of some instances of "Primitive Wlialing." 
t Abraham Shearman, Jr., has given some vahiable memoranda in relatioii to the 
early whaling, which are to be found in the appenilix. 



ADDRESS. 29 

1761) visited the place, thus describes it in his journal : 
"This day rode to Dartmouth, a spacious towu ; twenty 
miles will carry you through it. liocks and oaks are 
over the whole town. Whortle bushes and rocks in 
this and the two former towns are the sad comfort 
of the weary traveller. At sunset arrived at Rev. 
West's." 

In 17 GO there commenced an immigration to this local- 
ity which indicated that its future was to be commercial 
rather than agricultural.* In this year Joseph Russell 
sold an acre of land, the first sale made from his " 800 
acre " homestead estate, to John Loudon. The spot se- 
lected was a few rods south of Union street on South 
Water street, and on it a house was erected. Mr. Lou- 
don came from Pembroke. He was a calker by trade, 
and his purpose in coming here was to engage in ship- 
building. He Avas followed by Benjamin Taber, who 
purchased a lot of land on the north of the present Union 
street, and built a shop for the purpose of carrying on 
boat-building and block-making, which trades he had 
learned at Nantucket. The same year John Allen, who 
was a house carpenter, bought a lot on the east side of 
South Water street, extending to the river. Upon this 
he built a house, which was afterwards sold to Barzillai 
jNIyrick, a ship carpenter. 

The next year (1762) Gideon Mosher,t a mechanic, 
bought a lot on the north side of Union and east side of 



*See Abraham Shearman Jr.'s memoranda for some account of Xew Bedford's 
early histoiy. 

tMosher took no deed of his purchase. The land was deeded by Joseph Russell 
directly to Benjamin Taber. 



30 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

North Water, and erected a Ikhisc thereon. The same 
year Ehiathan Sampson, of Wareham, a blacksmith, pur- 
chased the lot next north of Loudon's. His lot was 
bounded on the " north and east on land left for ways or 
streets." These are now known as Union and Water 
streets. Plis north line was eight rods in length, and his 
east line four rods, and the purchase money was £6 13s. 
4d. The early settlement was at the Four Corners, as it 
was knoAvn and called for a huudred years. This was the 
centre of the young town. 

I have been somewhat minute in this description of the 
infant settlement, in order that the industrial character of 
the pioneers might be noticed. The men who came here 
in 17G0 to build up a town were mechanics. Taber, 
Allen, My rick, Mosher, and Sampson, were industrious 
and enterprising mechanics, and their descendants, iuher- 
iting their industry and enterprise, have l)eeu and are 
among our worthiest citizens. We may well believe that 
the earnestness of purpose and the devotion to their trades 
with which these young mechanics of one hundred years 
ago sought to improve their condition, affected in no 
small degree the character of our local institutions. And 
we look back with satisfaction to the intelligent and in- 
dustrious character of the skilled and honest artisans 
under whose wise influence the early settlement of our 
town was made. 

But there was one thing wanting to promote the busi- 
ness of the village. Capital was needed. Joseph Russell 
had means, which he used in whaling and freighting, and 
which furnished moderate employment to the villagers. 



ADDRESS. * 31 

But his wealth was not large, and his operations were 
necessarily very limited. 

The required capital, so necessary for the activity and 
growth of the village, came in 17G5, when Joseph Rotch, 
an enterprising merchant of great experience and knowl- 
edge in mercantile atfairs, selected our harbor as one 
eligible and advantageous for the prosecution of the whale 
lishery. This eveiit was of the utmost importance, and 
this acquisition of capital, accompanied with the ripe ex- 
perience, clear-headed sagacity and skilled methods of 
this accomplished merchant, gave an injpetus to our 
infant industry which insured its permanence and success. 

Mr. Rotch purchased from Joseph Russell, in 1765, 
ten acres of land in one tract, besides a number of smaller 
lots in ditlerent parts of the town.* The " ten-acre pur- 
chase " was from the north side of the Russell farm, and 
next to the estate of Manasseh Kempton. It commenced 
on the shore where is now Hazzard's wharf, and its north 
line, between William street and Elm street, extended 
nearly to Pleasant street and Cheapside ; its south line 
was bounded by the present estate of Willard Sears. Its 
river front extended from Central wharf to the north line 
of Ilazzard's wharf. 

Up to this time the village had no distinctive name ; f 

* A copy of the deed from Joseph Russell to Joseph Rotch will be found in the 
appendix. 

t That part of Dartmouth which became New Bedford was known as the Acushena 
country. The village which was afterwards Ijnown as Cushnet (the name is spelt 
in half a dozen difl'erent ways in the old records) formed one of the three territorial 
divisions of Dartmouth, and was thus recognized for all the purposes of municipal 
arrangements and taxation. The other two were Tonagansett (Dartmouth) and 
Coaksett (Westport.) 

1661. "Cushenag" was taxed "for the publicke charges of the countrey, as they 
were ordered by the Court I'or this yeare, respecting the ofiicers' w.ages and chan/c 



32 CENTENNIAL CELEBKxVTION. 

it was simply a part of Dartmoutli. But now its iucreas- 
iiig importance rendered necessary a name by which the 
locality should be known. At the suggestion of ^Nlr. 
Rotch, and as a compliment to Mr. Kussell, although 
somewhat indirect, the village was called "Bedford." 
About this time there were other accessions to our busi- 
ness population. John Rowland had moved into the vil- 
lage from Apponagansett, aud Isaac Ilowland (the senior 
of that name) had come from Newport, bringing with 
him considerable capital and business enterprise. The 
latter gentleman resided in the most elegant and expen- 
sive house iu the town. It Mas built of brick, — the first 
of that material erected here ; it was situated on Union 
street, and was torn down when Cheapside was opened. 

The little village of Bedford prospered. Its industries 
were successful, its population rapidly increased, and its 
merchants added largely to their wealth. The whaling- 
voyages had been extended, and new grounds had been 
discovered. During the ten years from 17G5 to 1775 our 
whaling fleet had increased from two or three vessels to 
lifty, which were much larger and of more value. The 
vessels sent out to the Falkland Islands in 1774 were 
iitted and owned here. It was this example of New Eng- 
land daring and enterprise which inspired Burke in the 
House of Connnons to utter that eloquent tribute to our 
victorious industry which so often has touched the pride 
and awakened the enthusiasm of the sons of New Bedford 



of the mnijLitrate'.i table, £1 10 00." Tliis was the territory in the neighborhood of 
the Acushuet river. "Tlie farmes against Road Hand" were also taxed. Tliese 
" farines " were upon that part of tiie territory afterwanls called Dartmouth whidi 
boi-dered upon the pi-ovince of lihode Island.— [Old Colony Records, 1601.] 



ADDRESS. 33 

and Nantucket. " No ocean," says Burke, '• but what is 
vexed with their fisheries ; no climate that is not witness 
to their toils. Neither the perseverance of Holland, nor 
the activity of France, nor the dexterous and firm sagacity 
of English enterprise, ever carried this perilous mode of 
hardy enterprise to the extent to which it has l)een pushed 
by this recent people, — a people who are still, as it were, 
in the gristle, and not yet hardened into the bone of man- 
hood." 

The war of the revolution not only checked this growth, 
but destroyed almost entirely our business. It w^as use- 
less to send vessels to sea with the danger of almost cer- 
tain capture ; and if capture were avoided and a cargo 
obtained, with no market, since the consumers in Europe 
could not be reached. No town suflered more from the 
common hazards of the war, nor by direct depredations 
of the enemy. Joseph Rotch returned to Nantucket, and 
remained there until the war closed. Joseph Russell lost 
most of his property, except his real estate; and the same 
was true of the other merchants. The great majority of 
the business men of the village were Quakers, and could 
not conscientiously engage in the privateering adventures 
which otherwise, as a seafaring community, they would 
naturally have undertaken. But the advantages of our 
harbor were recognized during the war, and it was found 
to be a convenient port from which to fit out privateers, 
and a safe refuge for their prizes. There were many, 
too, of our sailors and citizens, who were quite willing to 
engage in this hazardous business, prompted both by its 
rewards and a desire to cripple the commerce of the en- 

E 



34 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

eray Avhicli liacl destroyed their peaceful employments. 
Before the opeu declaration of hostilities between the two 
countries, as early as May, 1774, exasperated by the cap- 
ture in Buzzard's Bay of three vessels belonofinor to Sand- 
wich, by tlic British cruiser Falcon, a schooner had been 
fitted out of this harbor, which recaptured two of the 
vessels and took as prisoners fifteen British officers and 
marines. 

Our harbor became a rendezvous for privateers, and 
many prizes were brought here, and valuable cargoes 
landed, either to be stored in our warehouses or forwarded 
into the interior. 

It was to })unish the people of the town for their of- 
fences in fitting out and harboring privateers, and to de- 
stroy the shipping and valuable stores which were col- 
lected here, that Major-General Grey, under orders from 
Sir Henry Clinton, made the raid of Sept. 5th and 6th, 
1778, which destroyed a large portion of the property of 
the village,- and inflicted a blow which crippled it for 
years. This event, which is the most prominent one in 
our local revolutionary history, would demand an ex- 
tended notice and an elaborate description, were it not 
that the pen of tiie historian has already given it a per- 
manent record. I will therefore at this time only indicate 
the principal features of the attack. 

On the afternoon of the 5th day of September, 1778, 
there landed from the fi'igate Carysfort and the transports 
that accompanied her, between four and five thousand 
British troops. Fearing to come up the river on account 
of the fort which guarded the harbor, the lauding was 



ADDRESS. 



35 



made by boats in Clark's Cove. Marching up the County 
road to the village, they burned houses and wharves, 
shipping, naval stores and provisions. The total loss of 
property was estimated at £96,980; no small sum for 
those days, in such an infant settlement. While the 
work of destruction was going on about the wharves and 
warehouses, the main body of the troops marched up the 
County road towards the Head of the River. Near the 
present corner of North street they fired upon and killed 
Abraham Russell, Thomas Cook, and Diali Trafford. 
This was the first blood shed in the revolution in this 
neio-hborhood. There had been stationed here a company 
of light artillery sent from Boston, under the command 
of Capt. James Cushing, but a short time previous to the 
landino- of the British it had been ordered to Rowland's 
Ferry. During the day of the landing James Metcalf, 
the 1st lieutenant, and William Gordon, the 2d lieuten- 
ant, had returned with a part of the company and one 
field piece. They were obliged to retreat as the British 
advanced, and during the night Lieut. iSIetcalf was mor- 
tally wounded at Acushnet. The enemy marched around 
the head of the river to Sconticut, and after destroying 
the magazine and burning the barracks at the fort they 
reembarked, the fleet coming from Clark's Cove to the 
river to receive them. 

An attempt was made to rally the militia of the neigh- 
hov'mg country for the defence of the village, and 140 to 
150 men were collected. These men rendered eflScicnt 
service in protecting the property on the Fairhaven shore. 
Major Israel Fearing was the hero of the occasion, and 



3() CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

displcayed great courage ; and the resolute way in which 
he handled the few raw militiamen won for him the 
warmest praise. 

But at last the war was ended. When the news came 
to this little village that the ship Bedford, * Capt. 
Wm. Mooers master, had arrived in the Downs, on the 
23d day of February, 1783, the very day of the signing 
of the preliminary treaty of peace, and had straightway 
proceeded to London with her cargo of 587 barrels of oil, 
displaying there for the first time the United States flag, 
with its stars and stripes, then the people of the village 
believed that peace with its blessings had come, and they 
were ready to begin again the work of rebuilding the 
town. This ship Bedford was built by Ichabod 
Thomas on North river, Pembroke, and delivered to Jo- 
seph Rotch, at Bedford, January 13th, 1772, as appears 
by the receipt which is still extant. She was named by 
the owner for his adopted town, and sailed from this har- 
bor before the war. 

It was a remarkable coincidence that the war, which 
had been precipitated in the destruction of the tea in 
Boston harbor, thrown overboard from the Dartmouth, 
a ship owned by Francis Rotch, of this same village, and 
built in 1707 at the foot of Middle street, should have as- 
sociated with its close the advent in English waters of the 
ship Bedford, as the first vessel flx)ating the American 
flag in any British port. The names of the mother town 

*See appendix for an account of the arrival of the Bedford in the Thames, and of 
the excitement occasioned by the event. A letter from William Rotch, Jr., to Hcze. 
kiah Barnard, written in 1S4'2, having relation to that event, will also be found in 
Connection with it. 



ADDRESS. 37 

and of the village are thus made memorable in our revo- 
lutionary history. 

Our municipal existence as a separate town occurred in 
17S7,* when both New Bedford aud Westport were by 
acts of incorporation severed from the old township of 
Dartmouth. 

To show how carefully our fathers protected, even in 
their legislation, the feelings of the minority in matters 
of domicil and local government, let me quote a sentence 
from the act: "Provided, nevertheless, that any of the 
inhabitants now dwelling on the above-described lands, 
who are or m.ay be still desirous of belonging to the town 
of Dartmouth, shall at any time within two years from 
the passing of this act, by returning their names into the 
Secretary's office, and signifying their desire of belonging 
to said Dartmouth, have that privilege; and shall, with 
their polls and estates, belong to, and be a part of the 
said town of Dartmouth." 

New Bedford was required to pay all its arrears of 
taxes to Dartmouth, and its proportionate part of the 
unpaid beef tax, so called, together with its proportion 
of all other debts. It was provided that the town's stock 
of powder and other town's property should be estimated 
and divided ; and that Xew Bedford should pay to Dart- 
mouth for the Avorkhouse standing within the line of New 
Bedford. 

The population of Xew Bedford, accordino; to the next 



* See appendix for the act of the Gener.nl Court incorporating the to^vii of New 
Bedford, and for the acts by whicli Fairhaven was set ofl' from New JJedford, the di- 
viding line between Dartmouth and New Bedford A\as altered, aud a part of Dart- 
mouth and a part of Acushnet annexed to New Bedford. 



38 CENTENXIAL CELEBRATIOX. 

census, taken in 1790, was 3313. Dartmouth had 2499, 
and Westport 24()0. 

The leading business men of this period were William 
Rotch, Sr., the wealthiest man of the town, estimated to 
be w^orth over $100,000, his son William Rotch, Jr., and 
his son-in-law Samuel Rodman. Then followed the vari- 
ous members of the Russell and Ilowland families, Thos. 
Hazzard, Jr., and the Ilathaways, who were all " well to 
do." There were others without the prestige of wealth, 
but yet of great influence in the town ; such as Caleb 
Congdoii and Abraham Smith, and, not to be omitted, 
the Davis family, famous for its Quaker preachers. The 
wealthy people were models of industry and economy ; 
actuated by a sense of duty, they thought it necessary to 
show an .example of prudence, diligence, and unostenta- 
tion to others, and their influence in this regard was of 
the greatest benefit to the community. Their style of 
living was plain and rational. 

In 1795 there was a Congregational meeting-house at 
the Head of the River, and another in the Bedford vilhige. 
Dr. West officiated at each on alternate Sundaj^s. 

At this time there was one doctor, Ebenezer Perry, the 
son of a physician, and called a " safe doctor," who 
charged sixpence a visit. There was only one lawyer in 
the village, Thomas Hammond, rarely found in his ofiice, 
and concernino; whom tradition says that shootinof and 
fishing were his favorite pursuits. There was one school- 
master, Cornelius Wing, and one schoolmistress, Temper- 
ance Jennings. Mr. Wing was preceded by William 
Sawyer Wall, of English birth, a person much beloved, 



~ ADDRESS. oU 

aud who exerted a great influence in the community. He 
was first and foremost in the educational and scientific 
efforts of that day, and his name appears as the first Pres- 
ident of the Dialectic Society, the earliest literary associ- 
ation of the town, and which did much for its culture, 
refinement, and scholarship.* 

At the close of the war of the revolution our people 
sought to regain their prosperity and commercial impor- 
tance. Although crippled in resources they were not 
disheartened, but sought with their old vigor to reestab- 
lish their fortunes by their former pursuits upon the seas. 
They looked to the broad oceans, common and free to all 
men as the air itself, to yield them rich harvests as they 
had in the past. 

But there were other dilficulties besides the replacement 
of the vessels which had been burned by the British or 
had rotted in disuse. The British government, as if to 
distress us even after peace, imposed a heavy alien duty 
ujDon oil, which rendered it impossible to realize a profit 
from the prosecution of the business. Her policy was to 
force this industry to her own harbors. For a time it 
seemed successful, and many Nantucket and New Bedford 
whalemen made their voyages from English and French 
ports. But the persuasiveness and address of William 
Rotch, Sr., secured to us, first from France and then 

* William Sawyer Wall was a yriend, and came to this countiy from Engrland in 
early life. He was the father of our fellow-citizen William A llen Wall, the artist. 
A few weeks a^o, when Stanley Pumphrey, of Worcester, England, a minister of the 
Society of Friends, was in this city, he was shown a certificate from the Worcester 
Monthly Meeting issued to William Sawyer Wall, dated in ISO'2, and sent to him in 
New Bedford, signed by Stanley Pumphreij as clerk. Our visitor is grandson of the 
signer. 

August, ISTG 



40 CENTENMIAL CELEBRATION. 

from Great Britain, the privilege of sending our oil to 
those countries free of duty, thereby enabling him — 
as one of his biographers has said — to carry on the 
business with the highest profit and to benefit bis neigh- 
bors. 

The success which attended the efforts of our citizens 
may be judged by the statement of vessel tonnage owned 
and sailing from this harljor in January, 1804. The total 
number of registered vessels was 59, amounting to 13,- 
621 tons; and of enrolled vessels there were 5525 tons; 
makins: an aorcfreojate of 19,14G tons. The freio^htiu"' 
business was quite important at that time., There were 
30 ships and brigs, averaging 200 tons l)urthen, owned 
and fitted here, employed in general freighting, making 
their voyages to Europe, South America, and the West 
Indies.* 

But the work of developing this industry of the whale 
fishery during the early years of the nineteenth century 
was slow and difficult. The eml)argo came and ruined 
many of our merchants; and prior to that, in 1807, in 
consequence of the Berlin and IN'ilan Decrees and the 
Orders in Council, there were thirty ships laid up in New 
Bedford on account of the hazards attending them at sea. 

There was no marked improvement in this business 
until after the close of the war of 1812. The politics of 
the inhabitants of New Bedford from the close of the rev- 
olution to the war of 1812 was Federalist, and they had 
given bitter, decided and partisan expression to their 

*Iu the appendix will bo foinid a list of New l>e<lfor.l shipping: in 1803, prepared 
by Abraham Slieannan, Jr. 



ADDKESS. 41 

opiuious ill opposition to this latter war.* This may per- 
haps have been influenced by the severe reverses experi- 
enced in business. Many of our ships in the Pacilic were 
captured ; and while a few were recaptured by Porter and 
Downes, most of them were destroyed or used as trans- 
ports by the British. f 

After the termination of this war, the whale fishery, es- 
pecially as prosecuted at New Bedford, advanced with 
great rapidity and wonderful success. 

But before proceeding to the local development of this 
industry, I desire to sketch briefly, in chronological order, 
the seas and oceans which had been opened in the pursuit 
of whales. As early as 1770, Nantucket had sought the 
" right" whale ofl" Disco, in Greenland, going as high as 
81° north latitude. In 1774, New Bedford had sent ves- 
sels to the Falkland Islands. In 1784, we find our New 
England Avhalemen taking seals and whales around Pata- 
gonia and in the Southern ocean. In 1789, they are 
about Madagascar and the Cape of Good Hope. In 1791, 
the wlialeships entered the Pacific ocean. We are told 
that the vessels were small, poorly fitted, and insufficient- 
ly prepared for the long and often boisterous passages 
around Cape Horn. But in one thing they excelled, — in 
the character of the men who engaged in these perilous 
voyages. History cannot point to an enterprise prosecuted 
with more vigor and courasre, with more hardihood and 



* A transcript of the proceedings of a town meeting held in New Bedfonl July -Jl, 
ISU, w^hich will be found in the appendix, gives an interesting illustration of this. 

t The names of the men who composed the military companies of New Bedford, 
which formed a part of the detachment ordered to the defence of the town in 1S14, 
will he found in the appendix. 



42 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

iutelligeuce, than that displayed by the pioneers in the 
Pacific whale fishery. I cannot forbear mentioning the 
name of one whom yon all remember; for his genial, 
courteous manners, his kind and obliging heart, his clear 
comprehension and prompt decision endeared him to us 
who knew him in his old age, and assured us that the 
commeudatioli bestowed ui^on him seventy years asfo for 
"his prudence, courage, and fortitude," were richly de- 
served. The whale fishery has produced many noble 
men, but none more praiseworthy than that heroi and vet- 
eran of the sea, Edmund Gardner.* 

It is asserted that the ship llebecca,f of New Bed- 
ford, owned by Joseph Russell & Sons and Cornelius 
Rowland, named for Joseph Russell's oldest daughter, the 
grandmother of our esteemed fellow-citizen Daniel Rick- 
etson, was the first American whaleship that doubled 
Cape Horn. She sailed from this port Sept. 28, 1791, 
under command of Joseph Kersey, and returned with a 
full cargo of sperm oil obtained on the coast of Chili, on 
the 23d February, 1793. 

In 1800, our whalers were cruising on the coast of Peru 
and around the Galapagos Islands. In 1818, they were 
on the " Off-shore ground." In 1820, they had captured 
whales on the coast of Japan. In 1836, our vessels were 
taking oil on Kodiak, the northwest coast of America ; 
and in 1848, the bark Superior, of Sag Harbor, Capt. 



*Ciipt. Gardner has left in manuscript an autobiography, aljounding in interesting 
incidents, and containing many vivid and thrilling descriptions. It is worthy of 
publication. 

t William T. Russell, a grandson of Joseph Russell, has given an interesting ac- 
count of the Rebecca, which will be found in the appendix. 



ADDRESS. 43 

Roys, passed through Behring Strait, and opened up to 
us the vast wealth of the Arctic grounds. 

There are many incidents connected with the earlier 
voyages which deserve a permanent record, and the nar- 
rative would prove an entertaining one. I will recall one 
or two of the " good voyages," as they were called, of 
forty years ago. In October, 1838, the ship William 
Hamilton, of New Bedford, owned by I. Howland, Jr., 
t^ Co., commanded by William Swain, brought home a 
cargo of 40G0 barrels of sperm oil ; her entire catch 
during the voyage, including the shipment from the West- 
ern Islands on her passage out, being 4181 barrels of 
sperm oil. 

Capt. Daniel AVood, remembered by many in this audi- 
ence, a fine specimen of our whaling masters, whose clear 
judgment and impartial decision^ fitted him, after active 
service upon the ocean, to act as Port Warden in settle- 
ments between owners and underwriters, brought to Xew 
Bedford, in the year 1833, in the old ship Bragauza, 
nearly 4000 barrels of sperm oil. And George B. 
Worth, another of those generous, large-hearted old 
sailors, brought in the Magnolia to her owners 3451 
barrels. But in those days of large " catch" there were 
low prices. 

In the prosecution of the whale fishery New Bedford 
has surpassed all other places that have engaged in the 
business, and her increase in wealth from this cause was 
rapid and large. From the year 1820 until the year 1857 
her prosperity and her accumulation of wealth were con- 
tinuous almost without exception. 



44 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

The limits of this address will not permit the detail of 
figures showing this wonderful increase of material pros- 
perity. A few must serve to illustrate our progress. 

On the 1st day of August, 1835, our tonnage was 7;!, 982 

On the 1st day of August, 18-15, our tonnage was 110,509 

At this last-named date New Bedford was the fourth 
tonnage district. in the United States, — New York, Bos- 
ton and New Orleans alone exceeding it. There was 
more than double the amount of registered tonnas-e owned 
in New Bedford that there Avas in Philadelphia. 

During the year 1844 there were brought iuto New 
Bedford : 

Sperm oil, 54,509 barrels. 

Whale oil, 102,992 barrels. 

157,501 barrels. 
"Whalebone, 978,592 pounds. 

"Which at the prices of that time, — low as compared with 
the present, — yielded a total value for the whaling of the 
year of $3,063,324.15.* 

About this time our people thought that the population, 
business and commercial importance of the town entitled 
it to receive the municipal organization of a city ; and 
New Bedford received its city charter in 1847. f The 
town government had existed sixty years. The popula- 
tion had increased from 3000 to 15,000. Fairhaven,| 

*See the appendix for an account of "New Bedford in 1845." 

fTlie last town meeting, excepting tliose rendered necessary to complete the change 
in the form of municipal government, was held in January, 1846. It was one of the 
most exciting and interesting ever held in the town. Under a belief that a brief ac- 
count of this last municipal meeting under tlie old form of government would intei-est 
the people, a transcript of the town records is given in tlie appendix. 

I In the appendix will be found the act of the General Court setting off Fairhaven 
from New Bedford, also the other legislative proceedings by which changes have been 
made in the territorial limits of New Bedford. 



ADDRESS. 45 

which had been organized as a separate town in 1812 
from the territory of New Bedford, had at this date a 
population exceeding 4000, which swelled the aggregate 
of population residing upon the original territorial limits 
to over 19,000. 

The whaling industry of New Bedford reached its high- 
est point, in capital, in vessels and tonnage, in 1857, Its 
fleet, of 329 ships and whaling outfits, was worth more 
than twelve millions of dollars, and required ten thousand 
seamen. 

The largest importations of oil and bone were in 1851 
and 1853. The quantities of each, with the prices real- 
ized from their sale, were as follows : 

1851. 99,591 bbls. sperm oil, at $1.27J per gallon, . . $3,991,980.75 

328,483 bbls. whale oil, at ,45^ per gallon, . . 4,682,114.50 

3,966,500 lbs. whalebone, at .34^, 1,368,442.50 



$10,042,537.81 



1853. 103,077 bbls. sperm oil, at $1.24| per gallon, . . $4,050,539 5G 

260,114 bbls. whale oil, at .584 per gallon, •• 4,762,524.77 

5,652,300 lbs. whalebone, at .34^ 1,950,043.50 



$10,763,107.83 

I have mentioned the prominent merchants who were 
identified with the prosecution of the whale fisliery in its 
earlier years. There are other names which should not 
be omitted, since the men who took the places of the 
pioneers achieved much of the success. John Avery 
Parker, George Ilowland, Isaac Howland, Jr., Humphrey 
Hathaway, John and James Howland, and William C. 
Nye, were men of great business sagacity, financial skill, 
painstaking industry, and unquestioned integrity. The 
large fortunes left behind by many of them show how 



46 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

fully these qiuilities had been exercised and how abun- 
dantly rewarded. From 1824 to 1830, there were new 
counting rooms opened, representing- what was then 
called the " middling interest," and occupied by Abra- 
ham Barker, David R, Greene, Joseph Bourne, Alfred 
Gibbs, and others. These men boldly claimed a share 
of the whaling business, and aided materially in making- 
its progress continuous and rapid. The active whaling 
merchants of the present day, possessing the venture- 
some business enterprise of their predecessors, need not 
be named. 

Two events, although comparatively recent, must be 
mentioned in order to render complete the history of our 
fishery : the depredations by the rebel cruisers during the 
war of the rebellion, and the loss of our Arctic fleet in 
1871. 

Early in our civil war the torch of the rebel cruisers 
carried dismay into our whaling fleets. In the summer 
of 1862 the confederate steamer Alabama, under com- 
mand of Admiral Semmes, in the vicinity of the Azores, 
burned many of our vessels, and during the w\T,r the 
Florida and Sumter added to the destruction. But 
the great loss occurred in June, 1865, when the Shen- 
andoah, having recruited at Melbourne for an Arctic 
cruise, entered into Behring Strai4;. Here the unsus- 
pecting whalemen, pursuing their vocation amid the ice 
and fogs of that frozen region, were suddenly met by a 
danger which the}' could neither resist nor avoid. This 
armed steamer, the Shenandoah, Capt. Waddell, was 
in their midst, and the W'Ork of destruction was rapid 



ADDRESS. 47 

1111(1 thorough. Twenty-five ships, most of them of hirge 
size, were captured aud burned, besides four others cap- 
tured but bonded by the privateer for the purpose of 
furnishing transportation, to some friendly port, for the 
eight hundred sailor prisoners, who with sad hearts, fif- 
teen thousand miles from home, had seen their burning 
ships, with the products of their toil and danger and their 
prospective hopes of success, sinking beneath the waves. 

Among the incidents of this rebel raid should be men- 
tioned the praiseworthy action of Capt. Ebenezer F. 
Nye, of the Abigail, after the loss of his ship, in sav- 
ing as far as possible the fleet from destruction. The 
Milo had been captured and bonded, and had received 
on board a large number of prisoners. During the fol- 
lowing night Capt. Xye organized an expedition of two 
boats, and at early dawn left the Milo. While the Shen- 
andoah was pursuing her piratical work, these brave men, 
folloAving along the fields of ice, pulled north in their 
open boats 180 miles, aud there found a number of de- 
fenceless whalers, giving them the information which 
saved them from capture. It was a gallant act, prompted 
by the humanity and executed with the cool determination 
of the hardy sailor. 

Fifty whaling vessels were captured by the rebel cruis- 
ers, of which forty-six, with outfits and cargoes, Avere 
burned. Of this number twenty-eight sailed from and 
were owned in Xew Bedford. The loss of ships and out- 
fits belonging here exceeded one million of dollars, and 
of oil and bone on board four hundred thousand dollars.* 

* A list of the captured vessels is given in the appendix. 



48 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

But the most memorable of all the disasters which have 
attended this perilous business was that of September, 
1871, when in a single day thirty-three ships were aban- 
doned in the Arctic ocean, hopelessly crushed or envi- 
roned in the ice. This large fleet of the most costly 
ships in the service, caught between the jaws of the ice 
floes, drifted with the westerly gales until the immense 
fields of ice reached the shore, when they were crushed 
like egg shells. It was a sad and terrible calamity, not 
merely in its loss of property, but more in the hard- 
ship and sufl'ering of twelve hundred shipwrecked men. 
Hemmed in by the ice which lines the shores of a barren 
country, Avhere neither food nor fuel could be obtained, 
these men well knew that if driven upon the beach, ten 
or eleven dreary winter months must elapse before assist- 
ance could reach them, and that in the long interval death 
would come to most of them by starvation or cold. In 
their peril an expedition of three boats was fitted out 
under command of Capt. Frazier, of the Florida, to 
go south over the ice, and if possible find vessels in the 
open sea. The written appeal for relief which these ship- 
wrecked captains sent to whoever it might reach, was full 
of touching, pathetic eloquence. It was the simple appeal 
of brave men in distress to brave men who could realize 
the fearful peril. 

A toilsome and anxious journey of seventy miles be- 
tween packs of ice brought the little expedition to the 
open sea south of Icy Cape, and there the sight of ships 
gladdened their hearts. It needed no appeal for succor, 
no promise of reward, for the warm hearts of brother- 



ADDRESS. 49 

sailors were ready to save their eomratles, ultliougli at the 
heavy loss of an abandonment of their own voyages and 
the earnings of a year. Capt. Frazier returned to the 
wrecks ofi' Point Belcher Avith the joyous tidings of relief, 
and these twelve hundred men, taking with them in boats 
such provisions as they could carry, made their way over 
and through the ice fields to the rescuing vessels without 
the loss of one of their number. 

Of the thirty-three vessels crushed or abandoned, 
twenty-two belonged in New Bedford, and wxre valued, 
with outfits, without the oil and bone on board, at $1,- 
090,000. 

The sketch which I have given of the whale fishery as 
conducted at New Bedford, is but a mere outline of its 
history. There are those present who have seen its rise, 
progress, and decline, and been participants in its labors 
and perils. It reached its culminating point in 1856 or 
1857. Since then it has declined, and now our fleet 
numbers only about one third of the vessels it once did. 
There have been disasters in connection with this pursuit. 
The captures by the English in the war of 1812, the cap- 
tures by rebel cruisers, and the loss of the Arctic fleet 
were heavy blows. Natural causes, which need not be 
mentioned, have led to its depression, almost to its down- 
fall. But the historical fact which interests us is that 
New Bedford has been built up by the whale fishery. A 
large share of the wealth of today comes from this source. 
It has made our conmiunity what it is. 

The record is one of which any city may be proud. 
This large accumulation of wealth has been obtained by 

G 



50 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

the well directed enterprise aud persevering industry of 
the people of New Bedford, and belongs to the people of 
New Bedford. The capital of nonresidents has not aided 
us. It has been drawn from the broad fields of the ocean 
with much toil and manifold dangers ; with perils from 
the ice and fogs and storms of frozen regions, and expos- 
ure and disease under the hot burning sun of the equator. 
It has been a creation of wealth by the skill of the mer- 
chant aud the hardy daring of the sailor, and not a mere 
exchange of wealth. Without surveys of the seas and- 
bays which it made its cruising grounds, for our brave 
seamen went in advance of exploration, without bounties, 
without aid from government, but contributing largely to 
it in its consumption of dutiable articles, and overcoming 
European competition, the people of New Bedford ob- 
tained the control of the whale fishery, and made their 
city the great whale oil market of the Avorld. Few par- 
allels can be found in this or any country of such success- 
ful enterprise. 

But long before the decline of the whale fishery it be- 
came apparent to our citizens that this industry could not 
furnish a sufficient field for our capital and enterprise, 
and that New Bedford must look to other employment for 
growth and progress. Commercial New England was 
yielding to manufacturing New England, and New Bed- 
ford, not relinquishing her control of the whale fishery, 
sought to add the machinery of the manufacturer. The 
first really efficient move in this direction after the Cord- 
age Factory, was the establishment of the AYamsutta 
Mills. This occurred in 1848, with a capital of $160,000, 



ADDRESS. 51 

and 15,000 spindles; iucreased from time to time until it 
has reached a capital of $2,500,000, with 153,000 spin- 
dles, an annual product of twenty millions of _yards of 
cloth, and a disbursement of $650,000 for labor. 

This manufacturing enterprise has proved a success, as 
its o-i-Qwth and laro-e dividends attest. The honor and 
credit attaching to it are largely due to our veneral)le 
fellow-citizen, Hon. Joseph Grinnell, who through its 
whole existence has been its president and its guiding 
spirit. It is his prudent management and business sa- 
gacity, and also that of Thomas Bennett, for many years 
the agent, in directino; the manufacture of the hio'hest 
standard of cloth, and their unrelenting and uudeviating 
requirement of perfect work and honest labels, that have 
given to the product of these mills a world-wide reputation. 

Other manufiicturing enterprises have followed, the 
Potomska Mill, Gosnold Mills, the Copper Works, the 
Morse Twist Drill Works, and many more under the 
auspices of individual capital and management. 

But there are other interests connected with our city. 
As a community, we have been devoted to business, and 
hence I have dwelt largely upon our industrial pursuits. 
The great problem of life, however, is not in the accumu- 
lation of wealth, the fitting of ships, or the building of 
factories. In the intellectual and moral development of a 
people we find the highest evidences of greatness. New 
Bedford points to her public school system, to her Free 
Public Library * — the first ever organized under munici- 



* The appendix contains some details in relation to our public schools and the 
Free Public Library -which could not be given in the address. 



52 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

pal sanction on this continent, — to her many organiza- 
tions of phikmthropy and reform, and to her numerons 
churches well sustained, laboring in a liberal spirit of co- 
operation for the moral and religious welfare of the peo- 
ple. The march of a hundred years in these higher 
duties shows an advance more w^ondcrful than that which 
has attended our material growth. 

I have spoken of the men who have been our leaders in 
business. There are others whose names ouo:ht not to be 
forgotten. John Brewer, Thomas A. Greene, and John 
F. Emerson, faithful teachers in mental instruction ; John 
Mason Williams, the pure-minded jurist; Thomas Man- 
dell, whose life was one of practical benevolence ; Timo- 
thy G. Coffin, Thomas D. Eliot, and John H. Clifford, 
eminent in the law ; and that long list of divines, Samuel 
West, Orville Dewey, Ephraini Peabod}', James Austin 
Roberts, George L. Prentiss, John Girdwood, and 
Moses How, who faithfully and tenderly have led this 
people in the ways of holiness. 

Beautiful, indeed, for situation, is this city of New Bed- 
ford. Few places are there on this continent, or else- 
where, which so well unite the institutions, benefits and 
advantages of the city with the freshness and simplicity 
and comfort of rural life. Lying between green pastures, 
on the one hand, and the still waters of the river on the 
other, fronting upon this bay which is as charming as the 
Bay of Naples, and rising with the elevation of conscious 
pride from its shores, its ph3^sical condition and position 
are delightful beyond exception. AVe rejoice to observe 
and remember that those who have shaped its outward 



ADDRESS. bo 

fortunes have been studious to make it attractive and 
healthful, as the home of a cultured and enlightened peo- 
ple. Its well made and well kept avenues and streets, 
shaded by lono: lines of trees which our fathers have 
planted ; its complete and cleanly drainage, which the 
incoming and outgoing tides make perfect and efficient : 
its aljundant and pure water distributed and available for 
all the purpose of domestic, mechanical, and protecting 
use; its trained, alert, and electric fire department; its 
well diffused system for gas lighting; its schools, its 
churches and chapels, and bethel; its hospital, its home 
for orphans, its many unions of hearts and hands for good 
works ; its comfortable and pleasant homes after the best 
methods of New England life, combine to make this 
municipality worthy of our best atfections, and of our 
constant effort for its prosperity and peace.* 

We celebrate today the centennial birthday of our in- 
dependent national existence. The republic was born 
amid the smoke and fire of battle, and at the cost of the 
blood of patriots. It achieved its place among the nr.- 
tions of the earth through the grim desolation and pro- 
longed sacrifices of war, and, ordained of God, it entered 
upon its destiny as a government of liberty and free insti- 
tutions. It has survived the perils of outward violence, 
and the wild storms and bloody conflict of internal strife. 
It has grown from three millions of people to forty-four 
millions ; from a few scattered colonies it has become an 
empire reaching from ocean to ocean, and bounded on the 

* Some interesting statements in relation to the finances of New Betlforil and its 
appropriations, valuation nnil amount an<l rate of taxation, will be found in the 
appendix. 



54 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

one hand by perpetual snows, and on the other by per- 
petual verdure. 

We remember with pride the sacritices and self-de^iial 
of the men of Bedford in 1776, and the losses snstained 
and grevious burdens borne by them in the war of the 
revolution. A feeling of deep sadness mingles with the 
pride with Avhich we recall the noble army which Xew 
Bedford sent to the war of the rebellion, and many of ns 
will carry to our graves a heavy sense of loss and grief 
for those who never came back to us. 

The son of New Bedford who one hundred years hence 
may review the history of his city, will with proud satis- 
faction dwell upon the lo^-alty of this people and the con- 
tributions made by them in men and money for the pres- 
ervation of the Union. The Roll of Honor bears the 
names of 3200 men furnished by New Bedford to the 
army and nav}', being 1110 more than her quota under 
all the calls made upon her. Some of those names will 
never disappear from our history, for the}' gave their lives 
in patriotic devotion to their country. Rodman, How- 
land, Brown, Almy, and many others,* born and reared 

*See " Roll of ironor" in the .Tppendix. 

Gather for the sacred roll ! Blake, who well his station kept, 

For the pedestal of fame! Firm his well played guns beside. 

Deep upon tiie midy hifr soroll " Yield or die ! " " ] never yield " — 

Grave eaeh dear and lionoretl name. Yieldinj;- not, the fearless Nye, 

Place the noble IIodman's name On his I'duntry's battle Held, 

High upon the stone ve rear — For his couiitiv ilai'ed to (lie. 

On the obelisk of faiue" Watson, FiSANris, Ottiweli.! 

Youthful HowLANi) follows near. See an honoivd place for you; 

Brown, Avhose sable brothers wept Almy, Kemi'Ton, liere as well : 

Wlien their gallanfleader died; All to God and country true. 

Their country's martial garb they wore, 
Their country's loveil eonnnission bore. 
And through all time the emluring sliaft shall tell, 
The}' for their country tbught, and for tlieir country fell. 

[From the Ode spoken at the dedication of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, 
July 4th, ISGO.] 



ADDRESS. 55 

upon our soil,, are enrolled among the martyrs Avho died 
that our flag might still wave a sy.mbol of freedom and 
the equal rights of all mankind.* 
• The memory of the heroism and the patriotic devotion 
of those who struggled for our independence, and of 
those who gallantly contended for the preservation of the 
national union, stirs our blood and arouses our cnmlation. 
We remember the brave men who would not be trampled 
on by tyranny, and the loyal men who sutFered to perpet- 
uate free institutions. We cannot forget the record, and 
we ought not to forget it. It inspires us with faith- 
fulness and determination to meet the needs and require- 
ments of the coming age ; it stimulates us to labor stren- 
uously for the highest welfare of our country, believing 
that America holds in trust the destinies of the world. 
We are descended from a noble ancestry. We are proud 
of their achievements, and their history incites us to 
effort. Our birthright, this inheritance of the principles 
and sentiments which have made the republic great, im- 
poses upon us grave responsibilities. 



* There was aiipi'opriatcd and expended on account of the war hy the municipal 
autliorities $177,000, in addition to !?12o, 49.5.85 expended during the four year.s by the 
city for state aid to tlie families of volunteers, and which latter sum was afterwards 
refunded by the Commonwealth. The loyal women of New Bedford met on the 18th 
day of April, 1861, six days after the tiring on Fort Sumter, and the day before the 
first blood was shed in Baltimore, and organized for the work of tlie relief of those 
sorrows and sufl'erings which they knew must come. They donated upwards of 
$20,000 in money, and $10,000 in cloth, flannel and hospital stores. In addition, " Tlte 
Society for the Comfort and Kelief of our Soldiers iu Hospitals " furnished many 
thousands of dollars in value of supplies for the sick and wounded. 

In ISOO ovir population was -22,300. In 1S(>.5 it was 20,86.3. The assessed valuation of 
property in 1860 was $24,198,1.38, while in 18G5 it had decreased to $20,.52.5,790. These 
figures show the heavy losses of the war, and the saci-iflces made by the men of this 
generation for the preservation of the Union. The story of " JS'ew Bedford in the 
Rebellion " demands a volume of itself. Some further details are given iu the ap- 
pendix. 



50 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

Wo must preserve the results of the past. But this is 
not our whole duty. The work of our fathers is not 
completed. Our honor and safety is in still further 
achievements of public justice and orderly freedom, ancl 
in the advancement of the common welfare. Our mission 
is a continuous and steady development of conscientious- 
ness, a moral and religious growth, keeping pace with 
advancing intelligence, science and liberty. AVe attain to 
it by those common virtues which our fathers exercised : 
honest}^, frugality, integrity, and unfaltering devotion to 
duty. AVe need but follow the old plain paths, and, un- 
dazzled by the superficial glitter and pretentious show of 
ambitious self-seekers, march steadily forward to the at- 
tainments of a trained and vigorous virtue, to purity, 
strength, and solidity. Thus will w^e keep unsoiled our 
inheritance, and transmit it, beautified and glorified, to 
those who come after us. 

AVe have seen the forest fall before the stroni:: arm of 
the pioneer ; we have seen the shores lined with masts, 
and the waters white with sails ; we have seen the tri- 
umphs of restless, cunning labor; but not in physical 
power nor in populous cities, not in factories nor palaces, 
nor richly laden fleets, are the elements of national great- 
ness, nor its safety, but in the courage, integrity, self- 
denial, and temperance of the people, and the spirit of 
mental enterprise and moral freedom which inspires them. 



APPENDIX. 



APPENDIX 



I. 

DEED 

FROM WESAMEQUEN AND WAMSUTTA TO WILLIAM BRADFORD 
AND OTHERS. 

BratifortJ ffiobernour. 

1G54. A DEED APPOIKTED TO BE RECORDED. 

New Plymouth, November the 29th, 1652. 
Know all meu by these presents, that I, "VVesamequen, and Wara- 
sutta ray son, have sold unto Mr. William Bradford, Captain Standish, 
Thomas Southworth, John Winslow, John Cooke and their associates, 
the purchasers or old-comers, all the tract or tracts of laud lying three 
miles eastward from a river called Cushenagg, to a certain harbour 
called Acoaksett, to a flat rock on the westward side of the said harbour. 
And whereas the said harbour divideth itself into several branches, 
the westernmost arme to be the bound, and all the tract or tracts of land 
from the said westernmost arme to the said river of Cushenagg, three 
miles eastward of the same, with all the profits arid benefits within 
the said tract, with all the rivers, creeks, meadows, necks and islands 
that lye in or before the same, and from the sea upward to go so high 
that the English may not be annoyed by the hunting of the Indians in 
any sort of their cattle. And I, Wesamequen, and Wamsutta, do 
promise to remove all the Indians within a year from the date hereof 
that do live in the said tract. And we, the said Wesamequen and Wam- 
sutta, have fully bargained and sold unto the aforesaid Mr. William 
Bradford, Captain Standish, Thomas Southworth, John Winslow, 
John Cooke, and the rest of their associates, the purchasers or old- 
comers, to have and to hold for them and their heirs and assigns for- 
ever. And in consideration hereof, we the above-mentioned are to 
pay to the said Wesamequen and Wamsutta as followeth : thirty yards 
of cloth, eight moose-skins, fifteen axes, Jiftee7i hoes, fifteen pair of 
breeches, eight blankets, two kettles, one cloak, 2£ in wampan, eight pair 



60 



CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 



stockings, eight pair of shoes, one iron pot, and ten shillings in another 
comoclitie. And in witness hereof we liave intercliangeably set to our 
hands the day and year above written. 
In the Presence of JOHN WINSLOW. 

Jonathan Shaw. JOHN COOK. 

Samuel Eddy. WAMSUTTA. His mm mark. 

[The above is a copy of the deed as found in Eiclcetson's History of 
New Bedford. It agrees with a copy in the " Proprietors' Records," 
book 4, p. 1.] 



II. 

ORDER OF INCORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF 
DARTMOUTH. 

[Extract from the Plymouth Colony Records.] 

June 8. Att this Court, all that tracte of land called and known by 
the name of Acushena, Ponagansett and Coaksett, is allowed by the 
Court to bee a townshipe : and the inhabitants thereof have libertie to 
make such orders as may conduce to theire good in towue consern- 
raents; and that the said towne bee heucforth called and knowne by 
the name of Dartmouth. — [Fourth Book Court Orders, page 72.] 



APPENDIX. "^ 



III. 



TERRITORIAL LIMITS OF DARTMOUTH. 

Dartmouth was thus described in the original graut : " A tract or 
trac of land known by the name of Accushena. alias Aquset^ -^ - 
In- in -It the western end of Nakata, and to the river Cookset, ali.is 
re'e: :': :iaces adjacent, the bounds of which t.-act fully exton 
three miles to the eastward of the most easterly part of the river or 
W Accushenah aforesaid, and so along the sea-side to the river called 
Cookset lying on the west side of Point Pirril, and to the westermost 
s'de o any branch of the aforesaid river, and extending eight miles 
iTo the woods with all marshes, meadows, rivers, waters, woods, and 

appurtenances thereto belonging.-CBaylies' New Plymouth, part u, 

p. 231.] 



IV. 
THE RUSSELL FAMILY. 

BY WILLIAM T. RUSSELL. 

[There are, it is believed, one or two errors in the dates given in this 
account, but it has been thought best to give it as it was prepared by 
the writer in 1844:.] 

John Eussell was one of the original proprietors of the town of 
Dartmouth, and the first of the name of whom we have any knowl- 
edge that ettled in this part of the country. About 1050 he x'emoved 
,tm Taunton and established an iron foundry at Kussell s M.lls in 
Dartmouth, in company with Anthony Slocum. In 16o4 John Russell 
represented the town of Dartmouth at the Old Colony Court in Ply- 

"' ThL is a record of a confirmatory deed of land to John Russell 
from William Bradford, governor of the colony, in 1G94. 

Joseph Russell, Senr., son of the aforementioned John Russell, and 
grea -giealgrandfather'of the present generation, settled within what 
I no; the limits of the town of New Bedford, at what time is no 
known, but previous tolTlI. Hi« house stood near the site of the 



62 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

stone house knoAvn as the Tysou house, and now owned by 11. G. O. 
Colby. The original well which belonged to his house is now in the 
cellar of the Tyson house, and is still in use. Of his birth or death 
we have no records. 

Joseph Russell, Jr., son of the aforementioned Joseph Russell, Senr., 
lived on County street near the little school-house opposite John C. 
Haskell's. This house was standing within the memory of some of 
the oldest inhabitants; and his well is still remaining in the school- 
house yard. 

There is a record of a confirmatory title to Joseph Russell, Jr., of 
this homestead, dated 25th May, 1711, signed by Samuel Hammond, 
Benjamin Hammond, and Benjamin Crane, surveyor, " her Majesties 
[Queen Anne's] Justices of the Court of Quarter Sessions for the county 
of Bristol." One of the sons of Joseph Russell, Jr., was the ancestor 
of the Seth Russell branch of the family of Russell. 

Joseph Russell, son of the aforementioned Joseph Russell, Jr., and 
grandfather of the present generation, was born 8th Oct., 1719, and 
died 16th Oct., 1804. His house stood on the County road, between 
the court house and Charles W. IMorgan's house. 

He first established the whale fishery in New Bedford. In the earli- 
est stages of that business, sloops only of 40 or 50 tons were em- 
ployed. These vessels ventured out to sea in the Summer months 
only, and no further than the Capes of Virginia and Cape Hatteras, 
and took especial care to return in port before the equinox gales in 
September. They were generally successful in taking sperm whales, 
and brought home the blubber and tried it out on shore. 

As their experience increased, larger vessels were employed, and 
they ventured as far as the Bay of Mexico ; and finally, during his life, 
ships ventured round Cape Horn to the Pacific ocean for sperm whales. 

Joseph Russell first established a sperm oil factory in New Bedford. 
The building stood on the north side of the square, foot of Centre 
street. The act of refining speimiaceti in those days was known to 
but few, and kept by them a profound secret. Joseph Russell em- 
ployed a Mr. Chaftee for a number of years, at a salar3' of .$500 a year, 
to do his refining, — an enormous sum for those days. While at work, 
Chaflee was shut up by himself, that no one should steal his wonderful 
art. 

Joseph Russell was a shreAvd, entei'prising man. At one time he 
carried on quite an extensive mercantile business. In 1770, in part- 
nership with his son Barnabas, he owned, in addition to several whal- 
ing vessels, several vessels trading to southern ports and the West 
India islands. 

They kept a store at the foot of Centre street, and imported their 
goods from London by the way of Boston, and their West India goods 
in their own vessels, and up to the time of the revolutionary war their 



APPENDIX. 03 

business was iu a very prosperous state. The war put au end to their 
prosperity. Their vessels were takeu, and their losses by the depre- 
ciation of the continental paper money left them, at the close of the 
war, but little besides their real estate. 

The Eussells and Kemptons were the original proprietors of the 
land comprising the limits of the town of New Bedford as it is at the 
present day. Their tract together extended from near Clark's Cove, 
and running north to somewhere about Smith street, and from the 
river, west, indefinitely to undivided lands, as appears by a confirma- 
tory title to Joseph Russell, Jr., by "her Majesties Justices of the 
Court of Quarter Sessions for the County of Bristol," dated May 25th, 
1711; and a similar title to Mauasseh Kemptou, dated 31st May, 1711. 
The division line between Joseph Russell, Jr., and Manasseh Kemp- 
ton, was between William and Elm streets, and running west from the 
river to undiA^ded lands. 

Joseph and Caleb Russell, sous of Joseph Russell, Jr., inherited the 
above described tract of land, extending from the hill north of Clark's 
Cove on County road, and running north to between William and Elm 
streets, and from the river, westerly, to about a mile west of County 
road. 

Their division line was between Bedford and Russell streets (a part 
of the division wall is still remaining,) Joseph having the north part 
and Caleb the south part. Caleb Russell was the grandfather of the 
present Reuben Russell, and father of the Joseph Russell who settled 
in Boston and was in business there under the firm of Jeffrey & Rus- 
sell.* 

The original proprietors of land on the west side of the Acushnet 
river, beginning at Clark's Point and following the County road to the 
Head of the River, were taken iu rotation as follows : 

First. — Benjamin Allen, who owned the whole of Clark's Point, 
and as far north as the brow of the hill on County road, leading down 
to Clark's Cove. 

Second. — Joseph Russell, Seur. 

Third. — Joseph Russell, Jr. Father and son, they were both living 
in 1711. They were at that date proprietors of all that part of New 
Bedford south of William street, and from the river w^est. 

Fourth. — Manasseh Kempton. 

Fifth. Willis. 

Sixth. — Stephen Peckham was a large proprietor. His tract in- 
cluded Rodman's, Coggeshall's, Tallman's, and Timothy G. Coftiu's 
farms, as they are at the present day. 

Seventh. — John Hathaway. 

* See " Stars ami Stripes in the Tliames." 



64 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

Eislitli. Wrightington, who owned about the Head of the 

River, including the present village of Acushnet, on both sides of the 
river. The Swifts purchased of the Wrightingtons. 

Joseph Rotch, the grandfather of the present William Rotch, re- 
moved from Nantucket to New Bedford a few years previous to the 
revolutionary war, and purchased of Joseph Russell about twenty 
acres of land, which included the present Rotch's wharf, and running 
west to Purchase sti*eet of an unequal width. He wanted more land 
on the shore of the river than Joseph Russell was willing to part with, 
and made ]ns first purchase of land on the east side of the river, with 
a view of settling there, but finally acceded to Joseph Russell's terms. 
A part of that land in Fairliaven is still in possession of the Rotch 
family. There is a record of the burial of Joseph Rotch, 27th Nov., 
1785. 

Joseph Rotch gave the name of New Bedford to the town, or first 
proposed it should be called Bedford ; but ascertaining there was al- 
ready a Bedford in Massachusetts, it was named by way of distinction, 
New Bedford. 

December, 1844. 



V. 

PKIMITIVE WHALING. 

[Under the head of "Whaling," I find in Richard A. Pease's valu- 
able " Historical Sketches of Martha's Vineyard," the following ex- 
tracts from the records of the town of Edgartown in relation to the 
primitive methods of whaling.] 

November 11, 1652. Thomas Daggett and William Weeks are whale 
cutters for this year. Voted the day above written. 

April 13, 1G53. Ordered by the town that the whale is to be cut out 
freely, four men at one time, and four at another, and so every whale, 
beginning at the east end of the town. 

April 15, 1G90. Voted by the proprietors of the whale that Mr. 
Sarson and William Vinson are to oversee and order the cutting and 
sharing of all whales that shall be cast on shore within the liberty or 



APrENDIX. 65 

bouuds of Edgui-towu : and they to have as much lor their care as cue 
cutter. 

Martha's Vineyard, February 19, 1C92. The proprietors of the drift 
whale at Edgartowu, being met upon occasion of a whale mariied on 
their beach, seized by Benjamin Smith and Mr. Joseph Norton, in 
their behalf, yet claimed by John Steel, harponeer, on a whale design, 
as being killed by him; which occasioned a contract about said whale 
between said parties, about cutting and securing the said whale ; the 
proprietors accepting of said contract, have and unanimously agree 
that the contract be ratified and confirmed; and that Richard Sarson, 
Esq., and Mr. Benjamin Smith, in behalf of the proprietors, take the 
same into their custody, and preserve the said whale by trying and 
securing the oyl, and disbursing as they find needful; and that no dis- 
tribution be made of the said whale, or effects, till after fifteen days 
are expired after the date hereof, that so such persons who may pre- 
tend an interest or clain*, in the whale, may make their challenge; 
and in case such challenge appear sufficient to them, then they may 
deliver the said whale, or oyl to such challenger; otherwise to give 
notice to the proprietors, who may do as the matter may require. 
This agreement was ordered to be entered by them, the day and year 
above written. 

Per me, THOMAS TRAPP, Clerk. 

Martha's Vineyard, 1792-3. The marks of the whales killed by John 
Butler and Thomas Lothrop. One whale lanced near or over the 
shoulder blade, near the left shoulder blade only; another killed with 
an iron forward in the left side, marked W. ; and upon the right side, 
marked with a pocket knife T. L. ; and the other hath an iron-hole 
over the right shoulder blade, with two lance-holes in the same side, 
one in belly. These whales were all killed about the middle of Feb- 
ruary last past; all great whales, betwixt six and seven and eight foot 
bone, which are all gone from us. A true account given by John But- 
ler from us and recorded. 

Per me, THOMAS TRAPP, Clerk. 

[From the Old Colony Records.] 

A proposition ordered to be recorded, which vpas sent vnto the four 
towns, viz., Sandwich, Yarmouth, Barnstable, and Eastham, by 
order of the Court held att Plymouth, October the first, IGGl, as 
followeth, signed by Constant Southworth, Treasurer. 

Loucing Frinds : Wheras the Generall Court was pleas(*d to make 
some propositions to you respecting the drift fish or whales; and in- 
case you should refuse their proffer, they impowered mee, though 
vufitt, to farme out what should belonge vnto them on that account ; 
I 



6G CENTENNIAL CELEBKATION. 

and seeing the time is expired, and it faales [falls] into my hands to 
dispose of, I doe therefore, with the advise of the court, in answare 
to youer remonstrance, say, that if you will duely and trewly pay to 
the country for euery whale that shall come, one hogshead of oyle att 
Boston, where I shall appoint, and that current and marchantable, 
without any charge or trouble to the countrey, — I say, for peace and 
quietnes sake, you shall haue it for this present season, leaueing you 
and the Election Court to seetle it soe as it may bee to satisfaction on 
both sides ; and incase you accept not of this tender, to send it within 
fourteen days after date heerof ; and if I heare not from you, I shall take 
it for graunted that you will accept of it, and shall expect the accom- 
plishment of the same. 

Youers to vse, 
/GG/. CONSTANT SOUTHWORTH, 

1 October. Treasu. 

Prence, 
Gou^ 

The agents for the towue of Yarmouth appeeriug att this Court, ac- 
cording to agreement, to debate and determine a difl'erence between 
them and others about whales, were desired by the Court to glue in 
thire result conserning that matter vnto the Court, as being that 
w^hcronto they would stand; who gaue in theire answare as followeth : 

The sixt of the first month, Gl-62. 
Right Wor"'' : Wee iutreat youer worshipes reddily to accept these 
few lines for a positiue answare, to which wee promise to stand : that 
the Treasurer shall haue the two barrells of oyle out of each whale, 
according to his proposition made vnto vs for the yeare past, soe as 
there may bee a full end of what troubles hath formerly past about it. 
AVituess our hands. 

ANTHONY THACHER. 
f6ef-2. ROBERT DENIS. 

4 March. THOMAS BOARDMAN. 

[Prence Gouernor.] RICHARD TAYLOR. 

In reference vnto a whale brought on shore to Yarmouth from sea, 
the Court leaues it to the Treasurer to make abatement of what is due 
to the countrey therof, by law, as hee shall see cause, when hee treated 
with those that brought it on shore. 
W72. 
1 July. 
Prence Gou"". 

[The reader of these early whaling records will be reminded of that 
vivid picture of pi'imitive whaling which Walter Scott has given 
us in his romance of the pirate. The distribution of the rich and 



AI'PENDIX. 67 

coveted yield of the stranded leviathcan upon the shore of the Orkneys 
was not, however, reguhxted by the law of the land, but by the law of 
the strongest. "Pit yoursell forward, man," said the saving sister 
of the timid Triptolenius, " there 's a graip to ye — faint heart never 
wan fair lady, a pint of the creature's ulzic Avad be worth siller in the 
lang dark nights — wha kens but what it may eat weel eneugh and 
spare butter? "J 



VI. 

MEMORANDA IN RJ:LATI0N TO THE WHALE FISH- 
ERY AND THE COMMERCE OF NEW BEDFORD. 

BY ARRAIIAH SHEARMAN, JUNIOR. 

The whale fishery appears to have been carried on from Cape Cod 
prior to its prosecution from any other part of America. 

In the year 1680 [1G90?] a Mr. Paddock from Cape Cod came to Nan- 
tucket to instruct the English how to whale in boats from the shore, 
which business continued good till 1760, when it became poor by the 
scarcity of whales. In the spring of 1726, there were eightij-six whales 
caught here. One Mr. Loper previous to this was engaged in the 
business, but not to any amount worthy of record. — [Nantucket In- 
quirer.] 

The "Mr. Loper" above referred to was also from Cape Cod, and a 
copy was recently published of his agreement with the inhabitants of 
the island to prosecute the business from their shores. This was in 
the year 1672. 

In the year 1770 there were employed in the whale fishery from 
Nantucket, one hundred and twenty-three saW oi \esse\s, sloops, schoon- 
ers, and brigs, making about ten thousand tons, and navigated by about 
sixteen hundred men. From Sept. 11th to Oct. 25th they all arrived in 
port, having been absent frora/o?<)' to six months, and landed fourteen 
thousand and fifty-eight barrels of oil. There are now living [March 
28, 1822] ten of the captains that were iu said fleet.— [Nantucket 
Inquirer.] 

The whale fishery was at first carried on in boats from the island. 
Right whales only were obtained in this Avay. 



68 CENTENNIAL CELEBIIATION. 

lu the year 1759, when S. Paddock first went to Nantucket, (and for 
a few years prior to tlie Erencli war, wliicli commenced in 175C,) voy- 
ages were made to tiie eastward of Grand Bank. Vessels generally 
made two trips to tlie southward, between George's Bank and the 
Capes of Virginia, and then went to the Bank. 

Voyages were afterwards extended to the Western Islands, Cape de 
Verds, and Coast of Africa. ; 

It was not till after the termination of the French war in 17G3, that 
our vessels made voyages to the Straits of Belle Isle and River Saint 
Lawrence. Large whale had been seen there by a Nantucket man 
when on board an English vessel of war, which led to their pursuit in 
that quarter. 

Sperm candles were first manufactured at Newport and Providence. 



LIST OF SQUARE-RIGGED VESSELS BELONGING TO NEW 
BEDFORD NOVEMBER 7Tir, 1803. 

[This was eight years before Fairhaveu was set off from New Bedford.] 

WHALEMEN. 

Bedford. 

Ships. Diana, 281 tons. 

Barclay, 202 

Dolphin, 139 

Diana, called the liltle Diana, .218 

Sarah, 314 

Winslow, 222 

Jefferson, 2G7 

Rover, 213 

Hunter, 258 

Ann, 288 

Hanover, (sealing,) 299 

Brigs. Triton 156 

Lucy, 9(> 

Fairliaven. 

Ships. Exchange, 215 

Herald, 2G2 

Brigs. Abby, 109 

Commerce, H4 

Also schooner Betsey, Bedford, 75 

Susan, Fairhavcn, 82 



APPENDIX. 



69 



EMPLOYED IN FUEIGIITIXG OR OTHER MERCHANT BUSINESS. 

Bedford. 

^,. , ., 237 tous. 

Ships. Elizabeth, 

Kancies, 

226 

^"™^' 281 

Y^''^ 298 

Ocean, ^^^^ 

Diligence, " ^^ 

^ ° ' 106 

Brigs. Joseph, ^^^ 

Eunice, 

^^"':»^' :::;;:: 180 

Almira, 

„ , luo 

Betsey, 

Regulator, 

Fairhaven. 

,^ ^ - 280 

Ships. Mentor, ^^^ 

Kingston, ^^^ 

Joseph, " . 

,„ 285 

Warren, 

Washington, '^'JJ 

William & Jane, -^ 

, 252 

J»°«' 09^ 

President, " 

INIinerva, " 

William, •• 

Brigs. Cyrus, } Village of Oxford, that part of Fairhaven C 1 19 
Diana > immediately north of the bridge. t 8G 

^^ ' 161 

Neptune, 

^, luJ 

Olympus ^^^ 

Bellona, 

swift, ; ; if^ 

Ann, 

Westport. 

. . 102 
Brigs. Hero, 

Friendship, 

Dartmouth. 

Brig. Maries, 

Snow. Panther, 

Two new ships at Bedford, owned by Lincoln [Benjamin,] Parker 
[John Avery,] Coggeshall [John, Jr.] &o. 



70 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 



RECAPITULATION. 

Ships at Bedford, 20 

" " Fairhaveu 12 32 

Brigs at Bedford, 8 

" " Fairhaveu, 9 

" " Westport, 2 

" " Dartmouth, 2 21 

Whole number, 53 

The whole number of tons of registered shipping on the custom- 
house books, 11 mo. 7, 1803, are 12,191 

Tons of enrolled shipping, 5,353 

Tonnage of vessels under 20 tons, 172 

Whole number of tons, 17,71G 

Add to the above ships Diligence and William, which are not 
registered at New Bedford, say 500 

18,216 
About 30 sail, or nearly GOOO tons, are employed in the freighting 
business. 
About 20 sail, or nearly 4000 tons, in whaling. 

Tonnage as above, 18,216 

Add ships America and Mary, of Bedford, say 500 

And ship Ophelia and brig Factor, of Fairhaveu, say 430 

Whole touuage, 1 mo. 18 [1804,] 19,146 



71 
APPENDIX. ' ^ 

VII. 

MEMORANDA IN RELATION TO THE EARLY HIS- 
TORY OF NEW BEDFORD. 

BY ABRAHAM SHEARMAN, JUNIOR. 

[The following are copied from a manuscript prepared by Abraham 

Shearman, Junior.] 

New Bedford, 11 mo. 30, 1821. 

To -ratify that species of curiosity, which seCms naturally to lead 
the human mind to trace the origin and early incidents « ^";^^^^- 
con^munities as well as of nations, I avail myself of the recollect on 
of an aged and intelligent citizen* now in his 79th year, to recor 
some particulars of the first settlement of New Bedford, in connection 
with some account of the whale fishery to which it owed its origin, 
and has been principally indebted for its prosperity. 

The township of Dartmouth, in its original extent, as purchased of 
the good old Massasoit in 1C52, and as it remained till divided in l<h/ 
embmced an extent of 20 miles of sea-coast, without including the 
shores of its harbours, of wliich Accushnet, Aponeganset, and Acoaxet 

were its principal. 

In the year 1751, when our informant was nine years of age the e 
were two or three vessels from Aponeganset river, in the whale fish- 
ery the owners of which, John Wady and Daniel Wood, he well rec- 
ollects ; and he thinks there were one or two fi-om A-sh-t the wes 
side of the river, and perhaps one or two from the east side, the foimei 
owned by Joseph and Caleb Russell. , , o *i 

\vhales were then principally taken on what was called the Southern 
ground, between George's Bank and the Capes of Virginia, and voy- 
ages w;re of four to six weeks' continuance ; but the fishery was about 
tWs time extended to the Grand Bank of Newfoundland, or rather to 
the eastward of it, and the voyages lengthened to three -^^l'^^- 
Previous to the year 1760, more vessels were fitted from Aponegan- 

tradhig branches of commerce, f'^ .v a. o™ ot the up ^ ^^^^^^^^ 

Shearman's list of our merchants' marnie m lb03. Hib jouinai, nn 

city, is his gi-andson. 



72 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

. set than from Accushnet river; but the latter having the advantage of 
a better and more convenient harbour, now began to attract the atten- 
tion of men of business. Our informant was early engaged in a sea- 
faring life from Aponeganset, and mostly in the fishery. The vessel 
to which he was attached fitted in the year above-mentioned, from 
what was afterwards called Bedford, on Accushnet river, and he thinks 
was the first vessel, now owned by persons in its immediate vicinity, 
that came there to fit out. The present site of the town was then a 
forest, through which a rough cartway led to the shore, and a try- 
house was the only building other than the farm houses on the County 
road. 

There were then standing on the County road the houses of Joseph 
Russell, Caleb Russell, Ephraim Kempton, and Samuel Willis, which 
are still remaining [1821]; also a house that belonged to Joseph Rus- 
sell, father of Joseph and Caleb, which stood a little to the south of 
the house now occupied by William R. Rotch,* near a well which is 
still in use. The site of a house that belonged to Joseph Russell, 
father of the last mentioned, may still be traced on the east side of the 
road, near the former mansion of Caleb Russell. 

In the winter of 1760, John Loudon f purchased of Joseph Rnssell 
an acre of land (the first lot that was sold from his homestead farm) a 
few rods south of what is now called the Four Corners J ; on which 
he erected a house in the summer of 1761. His object was to carry on 
shipbuilding. His own trade was that of a calker. 

In the spring of the same yea-r, Benjamin Taber§ purchased a lot 

*The house named by Mr. Shearman as occupied liy William R. Rotch, is now the 
beautiful residence of Dr. Edward P. Abbe. 

t John Loudon, the first purchaser of a village lot from Joseph Russell, at one time 
kept a tavern. His house was burned by the British. He has a granddaughter and 
great-gi-andson now residing here. 

J The Four Corners (the intersection of Main and Water streets) was for many 
years the centre of business. The stone post at the northwest corner will be remem- 
bered by many who will probably read this. 

§ Benjamin Taber's first shop and dwelling was a building, situated on a lot north 
of the residence of Samuel Rodman, Senr., now the bakery of Mr. Snell. It was 
moved tiiere from the shore of the river, where it had been occupied for some pur 
pose connected with the whaling business. He afterwards bought a lot on the north 
side of Main street, below Water, and another adjoining the east end and north of 
the first purchase, lie was the builder of the first whaleboat in the village; was a 
prosperous mechanic, when in 1778 the raid of General Gray laid all his buildings in 
ashes. His son Daniel was the first male child born in what was afterwards called 
the village of Bedford. Taber's wharf is built out fi-om that part of his purchase 
iinder the deed of Joseph Russell, and his descendants own a large part of it. He 
had five children and a step-child, all but one of whom lived at one time on the north 
side of Union street, on the property I have described. It is a noticeable fact that in 
the " Account of the Old Men of New Bedford," recently reprinted in the New Bed- 
ford Merciu-y from the Boston Herald, are found the names of four of Benjamin 
Taber's grandchildren, and the husband of his step-daughter's chilil. No two of the 
four are brothers. 



APPENDIX. 73 

of land farther north, aud built a shop for the purpose of carrying on 
the boat-building and block-making business, at which he had served 
an apprenticeship at Nantucket. 

The same year, 1761, John Allen, a house-carpenter, purchased a lot 
of land on the south side of Prospect street,* on which he built a 
house afterwards sold to Barzillai Myrick, a ship-carpenter. 

In 1762, Gideon Mosher, who was also a mechanic, purchased a lot 
of land and built a house on the north side of Prospect street ; which 
he afterwards (1765) sold to Benjamin Taber. 

John Allen's lot was four rods wide, and extended from the Four 
Corners to the water, the same on which Piukham's Inn f and other 
buildings now stand. Gideon Mosher's lot was of the same width, on 
the north side of the street. It was sold by him to Benjamin Taber, 
who at the same time purchased four rods adjoining to it on the north, 
and extending, with the other, to the water. 

In December of the same year, 1762, Elnathan Sampson, of Ware- 
ham, purchased a lot of land bounded south on land previously sold 
to John Louden, and "north and east on land left for ways or streets." 
These " ways " or "streets" were what are now called the Main or 
Union, and Water streets. The lot (the same that is now owned by 
the widows Patty Hussey J and Ruth Ross) was eight rods in length 
from east to west, and four rods wide, and was purchased for £6 13 4. 
Less than one third of its front on Union street was leased the last 
year on an annual ground rent of ninety dollars. E. Sampson was a 
blacksmith. 

Thus was the infant settlement begun by industrious and enterpris- 
ing mechanics ; and it appears from the phraseology of the deed above 
referred to that it was then expected it would in time assume the 
character of a town. 

Capital, however, was still wanting to give activity to business; but 
this was soon after supplied to a very considerable extent by the ac- 
quisition of an enterprising merchant, Joseph Rotch § of Nantucket, 



*Tliat pari of Union street east of Water. 

t Piukham was from Nantucket. The building- in wliidi lie kept his tavern be- 
longed to the Nash family. It had been occupied as a tavern before for many years 
by Joshua Crocker. This property was on the southeast corner. 

J Patty (Martha) Hussey was the daughter of Elnathan Sampson. She kept a dry 
goods store in her house on the southwest corner of the " Four Corners," which was 
very popular. Her daughter, a resident of our city, is, I believe, the owner of this 
property. At one time there was no dry goods store west of AVater street. 

§ Joseph Rotch went to Nantucket early in the eighteenth century. He, too, was a 
mechanic; but he soon became a leading man and merchant of the town of Sherburn. 
Two of his sons are connected with the early history of New Bedford. Francis was 
here and in company with his father. I find "Joseph Kotch & Sou" assessed in 
Cushnet in 1773, real estate £.570, personal £630. 

In 1778 Joseph Kotch had returned to Nantucket. His son Francis remained here 

J 



74 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

who in 1765, after examining several different situations, fixed on tliis 
as an eligible port for the prosecution of the whale fishery. He made 
a purchase of ten acres of land, in one body, besides a number of 
smaller lots in diflerent parts of the town, and removing hither him- 
self his business from Nantucket to the Acushnet. To him the village 
was indebted for its name. The property of the soil being in the Rus- 
sell family, and that being the family name of the Duke of Bedford, 
he gave it the name which it has since continued to bear. 



VIII. 
THE TEN ACRE LOT. 

DEED FROM JOSEPH RUSSELL OF DARTMOUTH TO JOSEPH ROTCH 
OF SHERBURN. 

Know all Men, That I Joseph Russell of Dartmoutli in ye County 
of Bristol, in ye Province of ye Massachusetts Bay in New England, 
yeoman, in consideration of Two Hundred and one pound seven sil- 
lings and sixpence to me in hand paid by Joseph Rotch, of Sherburn 
in ye County of Nantucket and Province affores'd marchant; the re- 
ceipt whereof I do hereby acknowledge and mj'self fully satisfied and 
paid; have given, granted, bargained and sold; and do by these pres- 

aiid was connecte<l iu business with Leonard .larvi.s. From tlic '■ Acusluiel Tax Bill " 

ol' that year I find that " Rotch and Jarvis " were taxed, 

Real estate, £4,100 

Personal, 13,000 

£17,100 
By I'ai- tlu' larj,'cst tax paid in Bedtonl was assessed to this firm. 

Joseph Rotch returned to New Bedford and died here. Franc-is and William went 
abroad ; the latter returning to this countrj' in 1795 and becoming a resident of our 
town, -wliich had recently been incorporated. Francis resided aliroad until aljout 
isil, when he too came to New Bedford. These brothers were both remarkable men, 
and there is nuurh in the history of both to interest and instruct. Francis left no 
children. His brother, the elder William Rotch, who died here in 1828 in his 94th 
year, left many children. From these two, William Rotch, Jr., and Elizabeth Rod- 
man, have sprung all the descendants of Joseph Rotch of Sherburn now i-esident 
among us. Seven generations of the family have lived upon the soil of New Bedford, 



APPENDIX. '^5 

ents fnllv and absolutely give, grant, bargain, aliene, enfeof & con- 
firm unto him ye s'd Joseph llotcli, his heirs and assigns, a certain 
piece or parcell of land scituate, lying and being in Dartmouth afores'd 
and at ye foot of my homestead farm, containing Ten acres and eleven 
rods by estimation be ye same more or less buted and bounded as 
followeth that is, 

Beginning at a stone set in ye ground near the beach a south westerly 
or elbow bounds of William Maccomber's house lot and from thence 
East thirty degs. northerly to ye river; then again from ye s'd stone 
l)efore mentioned and from thence west ten rods and two fifths of a 
rod to a stone set in ye ground ye southwest corner bound of ye s'd 
William I^Iaccombers lot : and from thence North in s'd Macomber's 
line four rods and seven tenth parts of a rod to ye line of William 
Kempton's land; from thence in s'd Kemptou's line fifty nine rods to a 
heap of stones from thence South twenty two rods to a heap of stones 
a little to ye southward of a little spring brook and from thence east 
thirty four degrees Northerly two rods to a heap of stones on ye north 
side of s'd brook; and from thence east eighty rods and one fifth part 
of a rod to a stone set into ye ground about one rod west from ye west 
side of ye Try house and from thence two rods and three quarters of 
a rod to a ledge of rocks and from thence East to ye river, running 
into s'd river by ye south side of a great ledge of rocks, this land 
liounds Easterly by ye river and ye head of William Macomber's lots 
Northwardly by s'd Macomber's and said Kemtons land, southwardly 
and westwardly by ray own lands. 

Also the priveledge of a drift way from ye same to ye open way that 
goes by my house in Common with ye other people that have bought 
Tots at ye foot of my s'd Homestead. Together with all ye priveledges 
& appurtenances thereof. 

To Have and to Hold to ye s'd Joseph Rotch his heirs and assigns 
as * * * inheritance in fee simple forever. And I the s'd Joseph 
Kussell, do hereby avouch myself to be the sole lawful owner of ye 
bargained premises and am lawfully seized and that they are free of 
all incumbrances whatsoever and I also hereby for myself my heirs, 
exes. & adms., covenant with ye s'd Joseph Rotch his heirs and 
assigns, the granted and bargained premises and appurtenances against 
ye lawful claims and demands of all persons what so ever to warant 
& forever defend, always excepting and reserving the priveledge of 
a drift way across ye s'd premises for the s'd William Macomber his 
heirs and assigns to pass and repass in 

And Judith Russell the wife of me, ye s'd Joseph Russell doth by 
these presents, freely and willingly yield up and surender all her right 
of dower and power of thirds of, in and unto ye same unto ye s'd 
Joseph Rotch his heirs and assigns, to hold as aflbres'd. 

In Witness Whereof We the s'd Joseph Russell and Judith Russell 



7() CENTENXIAL CELEBRATION. 

do hereuuto set our liauds and se:)ls this Twenty eight day of May in 
ye fifth year of ye Reign of King George the Third Anno Domi one 
thousand seven hundred sixty five. 

Signed, sealed and deHvered JOSEPH RUSSELL [S] 

in presence of JUDITH RUSSELL [8] 

Seth Russell 

Berth" Taber 

Bristol ss. Dortm" 29th May 1765 Personally appeared Joseph 
Russell and acknowledged the within and above to be his act & deed, 
Before me 

ELISHA TOBEY, Justice of the Peace. 

Rec'd July 22d 1765 & Recorded per 

JAMES WILLIAMS, Rcgr. 

A true copy from Book 48, Page 8, of Bristol Co. Ko. Dist. Land 
Records. Attest : 

J. E. WILBAR, Register. 



IX. 
THE STARS AND STRIPES IN THE THAMES. 

The ships Bedford, Dartmouth, Rebecca, and Maria, have become 
historical vessels. Their respective claims to this position are now 
well settled. 

For many years it was supposed that to the last, and not the first, 
belonged the honor of displaying the flag of our country in British 
Avaters. The old Maria was long the jla(j ship ; and in the newspapers 
and many less fugitive publications the erroneous story was so often 
repeated that it assumed the position of a fixed fact. 

It was passing strange, that in the face of evidence patent to the 
world, not only the newspapers, but Mrs. Farrar, a granddaughter of 
the elder William Rotch, in her Eecollections of Seventy Years, and 
Mrs. P. A. Hanaford, in her Field, Gunboat, Hospital and Prison, 
should publish the erroneous statement. " I have often heard the old 



APPENDIX. '' 

gentleman [her grandfather] tell with pride and pleasure that the 
Maria was the first ship that ever unfurled the flag of the United States 
in the Thames." When Mrs. Earrar's "Recollections" which con- 
tained this declaration appeared, the statement was contradicted 
through the papers, by the publication of the fact that when the flag 
was displayed in the Thames in February, 1783, the Maria was lying 
at the wharf at Nantuclict, never having been at sea. 

The following extract from Barnard's Ilistory of England, a rare 
book, was published at the same time. 

"The ship Bedford, Capt. Moores, belonging to the Massachusetts, 
arrived in the Downs on the 3d of February, passed Gravesend on the 
3d and was reported at the custom house on the 6th instant. She 
was not allowed regular entry until some consultation had taken place 
between the commissioners of the customs and the lords of council, on 
account of the many acts of parliament in force against the rebels of 
America. She was loaded with 487 butts of whale oil, is American 
built, manned wholly by American seamen, K^ears the rebel colors, and 
belongs to the island of Nantucket, in Massachusetts. This is the 
first vessel which has displayed the thirteen rebellious stripes of Amer- 
ica in any British port. The vessel is at Horseledour, a little below 
the Tower, and is intended to return immediately to New England." 

These two statements showed beyond question that the Maria did 
not, and that the Bedford did first unfurl the flag of the United States 
in the waters of Great Britain. ,. , „,u o i 

In a letter to Hezekiah Barnard, dated at New Bedford 8th mo. 3d, 
1842 William Rotch, Jr., thus speaks of the Bedford and her voyage. 
* '* * "In 1781, Admiral Digby granted thirty licenses for our 
TNantucket] vessels to go after whales. I was then connected with 
mv father and Samuel Rodman in business. Considerable oil was ob- 
tained in 1782. In the fall of that year I went to New York and pro- 
cured from Admiral Digby licenses for the Bedford, William Mooers 
master, and I think the Industry, John Chadwick master. They loaded. 
The Bedford sailed flrst, and arrived in the Downs on the 23d of Feb- 
ruary, the day of the signing of the preliminary treaty of peace be- 
tween the United States, France, and England,* and went up to Lon- 
don and there displayed for the flrst time the United States flag. The 
Industry arrived afterwards, and was, I suppose, the second to display 
it The widow of George Hayley, who did much business with New 
England, would visit the old Bedford and see ^the flag displayed. She 
was the sister of the celebrated John Wilkes." 

William Rotch, Jr., might have added to his brief notice of Madam 

Havlev that a more intimate connection between that remarkable 

sister of a still more remarkable man, than a visit to the Rotches' ship 

* Mr. notch was mistaken in both these rtates. The Bedfov-l arrived on the 3.1, an.l 

the treaty was signed November 30, 178-2. 



78 CENTENNIAL CELEBEATION. 

Bedford was at one time contemplated, and was prevented only by an 
accident. This is not the place to give the romantic story of the 
marriage engagement between Fi'ancis Rotch, the owner of the Dart- 
mouth and the brother of the owner of the Bedford, and Madam 
Hayley, the widow of Alderman Hayley and sister of John Willies, and 
of its disruption. The lady, however, found a Yanlvee husband. She 
married, during a brief visit to Boston, a Mr. Jeffrey, of the firm of 
Jeffrey & Kussell of that city. Mr. Russell was of the Dartmouth 
family, and our old people have been frequently heard to speak of the 
sensation which Madame Jeffrey created on the occasion of a visit she 
made to the relations of her husband's partner in New Bedford. 

The ship Maria is more familiar to the people of New Bedford than 
either of the others. She was built for a privateer at Pembrol^e, Mas- 
sachusetts, in 1782. She was purchased by William Rotch and taken 
to Nantucket. Her first voyage was to London, with a cargo of oil. 
After that voyage she was employed in the whaling business. She 
was owned by Samuel Rodman, and the tradition is that she was a 
bridal present from his father-in-law Rotch on the occasion of the 
marriage of his daughter to Mr. Rodman. When the removal of the 
family to New Bedford took place, the Maria became a New Bedford 
ship, and remained in the family of Mr. Rodman between fifty and 
sixty years. It is said that in 1859 there was a balance upon the credit 
side of her account of $250,000. Her first whaling voyage ended on 
the 26th of September, 1795, and she sailed on her last under our flag 
on the 29th of September, 1859. In 1863 she was sold at Talcahuana, 
and passed under the Chilian flag. Her end was uncertain. One ac- 
count states that she foundered at sea in 1870, and another that she 
sunk in the harbor of Payta. 

We would inform the author of "The History of the American Flag," 
who has given an honorable place to these two historical ships in his 
interesting volume, that it was Mr. Hardy Hitch, and not Mr. Hardhitrh, 
who worked upon the sails of the Maria in 1792 and 1856. 



APPENDIX. 79 

X. 

ACT OF INCORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF NP:W 
BEDFORD. 

AN ACT FOR INCORPORATING THE EASTERLY PART OF THE TOWN 

OF DARTMOUTH, IN THE COUNTY OF BRISTOL, INTO A 

SEPARATE TOWN, BY THE NAME OF 

NEW BEDFORD. 

February 23d, 1787. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of liepresentatives in General Court 

assembled, and hy the authority of the same : 

That the lands hereafter described, to wit, beginning at a bridge 
lying across a stream that runs through the beach by a place called 
Clark's Cove, thence running northerly as the main branch of the 
stream runs, till it comes to a little bridge lying across the County 
road, at the foot of a hill about twenty rods to the eastward of the 
dwelling-house where James Peekham, deceased, last dwelt; thence 
northerly on a strait line to Nathauiel Spooner's saw-mill ; from thence 
northerly on the west side of Bolton's cedar swamp, till it comes to 
the dividing line between Dartmouth and Freetown, near the place 
called Aaron's causeway ; thence east twenty-two degrees and one half 
north, in the dividing line between said towns to a rock known by the 
name of Peaked Rock ; thence southerly by the County road that leads 
from Dartmouth to Bbston, one hundred and eight rods to the south- 
west corner of Ebenezer Lewis' homestead farm; thence east about 
three hundred rods in the dividing line between Rochester and Dart- 
mouth, to a large white pine tree, marked on three sides ; thence south 
six degrees and one half east, in the dividing line between Dartmouth 
and Rochester to a heap of stones by the sea; thence westerly to the 
first mentioned bounds ; Avith all the islands heretofore known to be a 
part of Acc]uishnot village, with the inhabitants dwelling on the lands 
above described, be, and they are hereby incorporated into a town by 
the name of New Bedford; and the said town is hereby invested with 
all the powers, privileges and immunities to which towns within this 
Commonwealth are or may be entitled, agreeable to the Constitution 
and laws of said Commonwealth. 

Provided, nevertheless, and be it farther enacted. That any of the in- 
habitants now dwelling on the above described lauds, who are or may 
be still desirous of belonging to the town of Dartmouth, shall at any 
time, within two years from the passage of this act, by returning their 
names into the Secretary's office, and signifying their desire of belong- 
ing to said Dartmouth, have that privilege; and shall, with, their polls 



80 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

and estates, belong to and be a part of the said Dartmouth ; they pa}'- 
ing their proportion of all taxes, which shall have been laid on the 
said village of Acquishnot, or toAvn of New Bedford, previously to 
their thus returning their names, as they would by law have been 
liolden to pay, had they continued and been a part of the town of New 
Bedford. 

Be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the inhabitants of the 
said town of New Bedford shall pay all the arears of taxes which have 
been assessed upon them, and their proportionable part of what re- 
mains unpaid of the beef tax, so called, together with their proportion 
of all debts that are now due from the said town of Dartmouth, anct 
shall support their own poor. 

lie it enacted by the cmthority aforesaid, That the public lauds, and 
the buildings standing thereon, also the town's stock of powder, and 
other town's property, shall be estimated and divided in the same pro- 
portion that each village paid in the last State tax, by committees to 
be appointed for that purpose, at their annual town meeting in March 
or April next; and whatever sum shall be found due to the town of 
Dartmouth in consequence of the work-house, standing within the 
line of New Bedford, as shall be reported by said committees, the in- 
habitants of said New Bedford shall pay to the said town of Dart- 
mouth. 

And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That Elisha May, Esq., 
be, and he is hereby empowered, to issue his Avarrant directed to some 
principal inhabitant, requiring him to warn and give notice to the in- 
habitants of the said town of New Bedford to assemble and meet at 
some suitable place in the said town, to choose all such town officers 
as towns are required to choose at their annual town meetings in the 
month of March or April annually. 



APPENDIX. 81 

XI. 
INCORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF FAIRHAVEN. 

AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE TOWN OF FAIRHAVEN. 

February 22(1, 1812. 

Sec. 1. The easterly part of New Bedford, in the County of Bristol, 
as described within the following bounds, with the inhabitants thereon, 
be, and they are hereby incorporated into a separate town by the name 
of Fairhaven, viz. : Beginning at the mouth of Acushnet river, thence 
northerly by said river until it comes to the north side of a bridge at 
the head of said river; thence westerly by the north side of the high- 
way to Svvift's Corner (so called); thence northerly by the easterly 
side of the highway which leads' to Rounseville's furnace until it comes 
to Freetown line ; thence easterly by the line of said Freetown till it 
comes to Peaked Rock (so called,) in the northeast corner of the town 
of New Bedford; thence southerly by Rochester line till it comes to 
Buzzard's Bay ; thence by said bay to the first mentioned bound. And 
the said town of Fairhaven is hereby vested with all the powers, priv- 
ileges, rights and immunities, and subject to all the duties and requi- 
sitions to which other towns are entitled and subjected by the consti- 
tution and laws of this Commonwealth. 

Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, that of all State and County taxes 
which shall be levied and required of said town, previous to a new 
valuation, the said town of Fairhaven shall pay three tenth parts 
thereof. 

Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, that all the expenses arising for the 
support of the poor of said town of New Bedford, with whom it is 
now chargeable, together with such poor as have removed out of said 
town prior to this act of incorporation, but who may hereafter lawfully 
return to said toAvn for support, shall be divided between the two 
towns in proportion to the taxes which they are liable to pay respect- 
ively, according to this act. 

Sec. 4. Be it further enacted, that John Hawes, Esquire, be, and he 
is hereby authorized to issue his warrant, directed to some suitable 
inhabitant of Fairhaven, requiring him to notify and warn the inhab- 
itants thereof, qualified to vote for town officers, to meet at such con- 
venient time and place as shall be expressed in his said warrant, to 
choose such officers as towns are by law' authorized to choose in the 
mouths of March or April, annually. And that the said John Hawes, 
Esquire, be, and he is hereby authorized and empowered to preside at 
said meeting duriug the election of a moderator, and to exercise all 
the powers and do all the duties which town clerks by law have and 
do perform in the election of moderators of town meetings. 

K 



82 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

XII. 

LINE BETWEEN NEW BEDFORD AND DARTMOUTH 
ALTERED. 

AN ACT ALTERING THE DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN THE TOWNS OF 
DARTMOUTH AND NEW BEDFORD. 

ricniiUARY 19th, 1831. 
From and after the passing of this act, the dividing line between the 
towns of Dartmouth and New Bedford shall be as follows, viz. : Be- 
ginning at the head of Clark's Cove, thence north nine and one half 
degrees west, six rods to the middle of the bridge in the road leading 
across said beach ; thence on the same course two hundred and forty- 
six rods to the southeast side of the Apouaganset I'oad, opposite to 
the bridge; thence north twenty-six degrees west, two hundred and 
seventy-six rods to the south side of the road leading from New Bed- 
ford to Smith's Mills, opposite to the westermost bridge; thence 
north, twenty-two degrees west, about one hundred and ninety-four 
rods to a large peaked rock in the westerly part of Ebenezer Hath- 
away's farm ; thence north, tAventy-one degrees east, about two hun- 
dred and sixty rods to the bridge on the old road leading to Smith's 
Mills; thence north, forty-seven degrees Avest, about five hundred and 
eighty-six rods to a marked maple tree on the south side of Philip 
Allen's mill-dam ; thence north, fifteen degrees east, about one thou- 
sand and seventy-three rods to the FreetoAvn line : provided, hoicever, 
that the lands set from New Bedford to Dartmouth, or from Dartmouth 
to New Bedford, by the establishment of the line as aforesaid, shall 
be holden to pay all taxes heretofore assessed upon them, the same as 
if this act had not been passed. 



APPENDIX. 



XIII. 



83 



PART OF DARTMOUTH ANNEXED TO NEW BED- 
FORD. 

AN ACT TO ANNEX A PART OF THE TOWN OF DARTMOUTH TO 
THE TOWN OF NEW BEDFORD. 

Mauch 20th, 1845. 

Section 1. So much of the towu of Dartmouth, in the county of 
Bristol, as lies easterly of a liue beginning at a point near the north- 
west corner of Clark's Cove and running five rods east of Charles A. 
Walker's dwelling-house in a direct line to the west line of the lane 
next west of Melatiah Hathaway's dwelling-house, and thence to the 
stone monument near Allen's Mills, being one of the monuments be- 
tween the towns of New Bedford and Dartmouth, with all the inhab- 
itants and estates thereon, is hereby set off from the town of Dart- 
mouth and annexed to the towu of New Bedford. 

Section 2. Said inhabitants and estates so set off shall be liable to 
pay all taxes that have been legally assessed on them by the town of 
Dartmouth, in the same manner as if this act had not been passed. 

Section 3. Said town of New Bedford shall pay over to the said 
town of Dartmouth all such suras of money as shall be levied and col- 
lected from the inhabitants and estates set off as aforesaid, for their 
proportion of any state or county tax, until a new valuation of estates 
shall be made, according to the provisions of the constitution. 

Section 4. If any persons who have heretofore gained a legal set- 
tlement in the town of Dartmouth by reason of residence on the ter- 
ritory set off as aforesaid, or by haviug been proprietors thereof, or 
who may derive such settlement from any such resident or proprietor, 
shall come to want and stand in need of relief and support, they shall 
be relieved and supported by the town of New Bedford, in the same 
manner as if they had gained a legal settlement in that town. 



84 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

XIV. 

A PART OF ACUSHNET ANNEXED TO NEW BED- 
FORD. 

AN ACT TO ANNEX A PART OF THE TOWN OF ACUSHNET TO THE 
CITY OP NEW BEDFORD. 

Apiul 9tli, 1875. 

Sect. 1. All that part of the town of Acushuet, with all the inhab- 
itants, and estates therein, lying westerly of the following line, to 
wit: Beginning at the stone post numbered twenty-nine, at Davis 
Corner, so called, thence running north three degrees west to a stone 
post, five rods easterly of the house of Benjamin Peckham, and from 
thence northerly in a straight line to the stone post that marlis the 
boundary line between New Bedford, Freetown and Acushnct, is here- 
by set oft" from the town of Acushnet and annexed to the city of New 
Bedford, and shall constitute a part of the first ward of the city of New 
Bedford until a new division of wards is made in said city. 

Sect. 2. All taxes already assessed by the town of Acushnet to the 
inhabitants of said territory hereby set oflf and annexed shall be paid 
by them to said town the same as if this act had not been passed : and 
all paupers who have gained or derived a settlement in said town, by 
a settlement gained within said territory, shall be relieved and sup- 
ported by the city of New Bedford in the same manner as if they had 
a legal settlement in said city. 

Sect. 3. The inhabitants residing on the said territory hereby an- 
nexed to the city of New Bedford, shall continue to be a part of the 
town of Acushnet for the purpose of electing a representative to the 
general court until the next apportionment shall be made, and it shall 
be the duty of the mayor and aldermen of the city of NeAV Bedford to 
make a true list of all the persons in said territory qualified to vote at 
said election as required by law, and to deliver the same to the select- 
men of Acushnet, seven days at least before said election : and the 
same shall be taken and used by the said selectmen in the same manner 
as if it had been prepared by themselves. 

Sect. 4. The city of New Bedford shall annually pay to the town of 
Acushnet from and after the time when this act takes eflect, one 
twenty-eighth part of all the state and county taxes thereafter required 
of said town, previous to a new state valuation or new basis for the 
apportionment of state and county taxes. 



APPENDIX. 85 

XV. 

GENERAL GRAY'S RAID. 

[The follo^Ying interesting article connected with the destruction of 
Bedford in 1778 by the British forces under General Gray, I find in The 
Independent Ledger and the American Advertiser, Boston, September 
2Sth, 1778. The paper belongs to the Free Public Library. Attention 
has been called to it by the librarian.] 

[From the Providence Gazette.] 
The following extracts from General Gray's orders, previous to the 
enemy's disembarkation at Bedford, are sent you for publication. 

MAJOR-GEXERAL GRAY'S ORDERS. 

Ox BOARD THE Carysfort, September 4, 1778. 
When the enemy are so posted that they can be got at, the Major- 
General commands the troops that are ordered to attack them to march 
vigorously up, and receive their fire, till they come very close, and 
upon every proper opportunity they are to rush upon the enemy, with 
their bayonets, immediately after they have thrown their fire, without 
Avaiting to load again: in whicli method of attack, the superior cour- 
age and strength of the troops must always be crowned with glory 
aud success. "The IMajor-General is impressed with every assurance, 
that the officers and men are so thoroughly convinced of the great ad- 
vantage they have over the enemy in this mode of fighting, aud their 
great zeal for the service, that the present expedition cannot fail of 
success, but do them honor, and answer the expectations of the com- 
mander-in-chief, whose opinion of these troops cannot be more strongly 
manifested than by sending them upon this essential service. 

In case of bad weather, or other accidents, that any of the transports 
should be separated from the fleet and fall in with a privateer, so as 
to make an escape impossible, which may not be unlikely, many small 
ones being lurking about upon the watch, the Major-General desires 
the commanding officer of each transport would oblige the captain of 
the ship to bear immediately down upon such privateer, running him 
directly and without delay on board, the troops being ready at the 
critical moment to enter and take possession of the vessel. This being 
properly done, will ever succeed, the enemy not being aware of such 
an attack, aud the troops so superior in every respect to put in exe- 
cution. The commandinq officers are to be answerable that no houses or 
barns are set on fire hi/the soldiers, unless by particular orders from 
Major-General Gray.* 

* Sixty-flve years ago, thirty-three years only after the event, a Quaker lady, whose 
lather had several buildingsburned by the British at that time, was heard to say 
that General Gray did not intend to destroy lier fatlier's houses. That a distillery 
was near, whicli Avas first sacked and tlien burned, affords a double reason why Gen- 
eral Gray's order in relation to tlie homes of the villagers was not obeyeil. From 
what is known of General Gray, liowever, we have reason to suppose that a very 
slight reason would have been sufficient to have called forth a "particular order." 
The writer of the Old Dartmouth Centennial Ode describes the raiders as 

" Crazed by the demon of the still," 
and in a note he snys, "The distillery was one of tlie first buihlings destroyed, and 



86 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

The publication of these orders (exclusive of the valuable purposes 
it will answer by preparing our troops and privateers against this 
mode of attack) will naturally lead us to the following alternative, 
viz. : That either the British troops, by burning the houses at Bed- 
ford, have not shown that sacred regard to discipline, and observance 
of orders, from whence alone they pretend to derive a superiority over 
us ; or, that the late conflagration was in consequence of orders from 
General Gray. In either case disgrace must attend the British army. 
Tour thousand chosen men, under the immediate command of the 
magnanimous General Gray, have effected, wUh great precaution, what 
a buccaneer might with safety accomplish at any time. Such daily 
proofs of judgment in their plans of operation, and the spirit and 
enterprise with which these plans are put in execution must (I should 
imagine) soon convince rebellion of the vanity of opposition. 



XVI. 
TOWN MEETING IN 1814. 

VOTES PASSED JULY 21, 1814. 

Voted, unanimously, as expressive of the sense of the inhabitants 
of this town, that inasmuch as we have been uniformly disapproved 
of the impolitic, unnecessary and ruinous war in which the United 
States are engaged, we have considered it our duty to abstain, and 
have scrupulously abstained from all interest and concern in sending 
out private armed vessels to harass the commerce of the enemy, and 
from all voluntary acts which appeared to us to have a tendency to 
prolong the duration, encourage the prosecution, or increase 'the rav- 
ages of the "unprofitable contest"; that we have seen with disappro- 
bation several private armed vessels belonging to other ports taking 
shelter in our peaceful waters, and regret that we have not the au- 
thority of law wholly to exclude them from our harbour, where they 
serve to increase our dangers and to excite tumult, disorder, riot and 
confusion. 

the excesses of the soliliers were, no doubt, to a great extent, OAvliig to the contents 
of the vats. 



APPENDIX. 87 

Voted, unanimously, as expressive of tlie sense of this town, that 
private armed vessels, while cruising in various climates and visiting 
ships and vessels from every country, are extremely liable to contract 
and receive on board infectious diseases, and that in all such cases 
there is reason to suspect that such vessels and the persons, baggage, 
clothing and goods on board may be infected with some contagious 
distemper. 

Voted, unanimously, as expressive of the sense of the inhabitants 
of this town, that the safety of the inhabitants thereof requires that 
any private armed vessel or vessels which shall arrive or be bound 
into the harbour of New Bedford, from any port or place, shall be re- 
quired to perform quarantine during a term of not less than forty 
days ; and that the Selectmen and Health Committee of the town be 
requested to cause all such vessels to perform quarantine at such 
places as they shall appoint and under such restrictions and regula- 
tions as they may judge expedient. 

Voted, That the privateer called the Yankee, now in this -port, be 
ordered by the Selectmen immediately on quarantine ground, to be 
designated by them, for forty days. 

Voted, That the town will indemnify the Selectmen from all harm 
which may accrue to them in the execution of their duties in enforc- 
ing the quarantine laws, as well in regard to the Yankee privateer as 
all otlier vessels. 

Voted, That the following persons be a committee of safety, whose 
business will be to advise and direct in measures that may best secure 
the peace and safety of the town in case of invasion by an enemy. 

Roger Haskell, Samuel Perry, William Hathaway, Francis Rotch, 
Rowland R. Crocker, James Washburn, Lemuel Williams, Jr., John 
A. Parker, Lewis Ludlam, Cornelius Grinuell. 



XVIL 
NEW BEDFORD IN THE WAR OF 1812-15. 

The necessary limitations of the address would not allow of 
details in relation to the second war with Great Britain. A few 
items are here given. In another part of the appendix will be found 



88 CENTENNIAL CELEBKATION. 

an account of a "Town Meeting in 1814," which clearly illustrates the 
feelings of the people in relation to the war and its privateering aux- 
iliaries. 

It was a sad war for our little community; for the commerce of the 
country was swept from the ocean, and it was upon the ocean alone 
that the inhabitants of New Bedford depended for support. 

The losses were heavy and the suffering was great; and there are 
some who will read this who still retain a vivid recollection of the 
deprivations which followed the closing of the ocean highways and 
cruising grounds to the enterprise and skilful daring of our merchants 
and sailors. There will be found by the local historian who shall one 
day look minutely into the events of the three years conflict, many 
incidents connected with it of which New Bedford and its vicinity was 
the scene, that will reward his researches and be found interesting to 
the descendants of the actors then upon the stage. 

There was, in the summer of 1814, a large detachment of the militia 
of this part of the state ordered to New Bedford for its defence. 
There were at that time probably a thousand men under arms in the 
town, including our own military companies. 

We publish the names of the members of the two New Bedford mili- 
tary companies then on active duty. This we have been enabled to 
do by an examination of the rosters of the several companies com- 
posing the command of Lieut. -Col. Benjamin Lincoln, which were de- 
tached for service at New Bedford. The recoi'd is very complete. 
This valuable contribution to our local annals is in the possession of 
the Free Public Library, to which institution it was presented by Mrs. 
Caroline Lincoln Whitridge, the daughter of the Lieutenant-Colonel 
in command, afterwards Major-General Benjamin Lincoln. 

We find but little of incident in this military record. Several courts- 
martial were held, for desertion and other grave offences. One poor 
boy-flfer, who said he did not mean to run away, was sentenced to 
close confinement during his term of service, and to have his ichiskcy 
stoj^ped. Lucky sentence for the boy. One officer deserted at the 
first alarm, and a private fled beyond the reach of a squad sent for 
him. 

Officers of the Eegiment. — Benjamin Lincoln, Lieut.-Col. Com- 
manding; Edward Pope, Major; John Coggeshall, Major of Artillery ; 
Elisha Tobey, Adjt. ; William Kempton, Quartermaster; Samuel Perrj', 
Surgeon; Elijah Wilbur, Qr. Mastr. Segt. ; Levi Peirce, Major; Eben- 
ezer Hunt, Major; Daniel Lane, Adjt. Artly. All of these were of 
New Bedford, excepting Tobey, Peirce, Hart, and Lane. 

In Captain Reuben Swift's company, formed at the "Head of the- 
River," there were the following men from New Bedford. 

William Swift, 1st Sgt. ; Allen Bowen, 3d do. ; and Nathaniel 
Spoouer, Lemuel Armsby, Elijah Parker, Jr., Oliver Wolcott, Peter 



Al'PENDIX. 



89 



Taber, Cornelius Pope, Samuel Hammond, William Tobey, 3cl, Samuel 
J. Tobey, James Wood, John Freeman, Stephen Wing, 2d, James 
Davis, Jr., Joshua Spooner, Stillman Washburn, G. Weston, Micah 
Spooner, Jr., John Williams, Abraham Reynolds, Asa Crapo, Benja- 
min S. Hathaway, Philip Reynolds, Privates. 

This company was stationed at Clark's Cove, in New Bedford, for 
the purpose of forming a regular guard around Clark's Point from the 
Cove to the Smoking Rocks. 

The only New Bedford men in Captain William Nye's company from 
Fairhaven, were the captain, Loum Snow, and James Taber. 

INFAKTUY COMPANY. 

Roll of Capt. Nathaniel Nelson's company of detached troops sta- 
tioned at New Bedford, ordered out by Lieut.-Col. Benjamin Lincoln, 

June, 1814. 

O^cej-s.— Nathaniel Nelson, Captain ; Job Gray, Jr. (Fairhaven, sick 
and did no dutv,) Lieut; George Clark, Ensign * * * * ; Benja- 
min Warren, 1st Sgt. ; Gamaliel Hart, 2d Sgt. ; Nathaniel Perry, 3d 
Sgt. ; Thomas Riddell, 4th Sgt. ; Charles Hathaway, Drill Sgt. ; David 
Rowland, Corporal ; James Proud, do. ; Bohert Tuckerman, do. ; Charles 
Coveldo.; Alanson Caswell, Drummer; Charles Pratt, Fifer; Abner 
Soule, Captain's Waiter. 

Pni'«(es.-David Allen, Joseph Wilcox, Josiah L. Bliss, William 
Tuckerman, Edward Gardner, Willet Seabury, Joseph Merrett, Na- 
thaniel Bassett, Charles Gilbert, Benjamin Hammond, Nye Holmes, 
Jonathan Jloidand, Jr., Elisha Briggs, William W. Kempton, James 
Babcock, Samuel Proud, Josiah Winslow, Ivory C. Albert, Uriah Head, 
Perry Jenkins, Russell Wood, Thomas Kempton, William Lane, Will- 
iam Cudworth, Heman Cushman, Oliver Price, Jr., Avery Parker, 2d, 
John Sisson, TJwmas Durfee, Stephen Howlaud, Elisha Clark, Moses 
Washburn, Thomas Burrell, Charles Wood, Stanton Burch, Richard 
Hill, Stephen West, Jr., John Wadkins, Jonathan Haffords, Benjamin 
Brownell, David Wilber, Felix Filuel, Ezra Hathaway, * * * * 
Warren Mosher, Noel Taber, John AJcin, Benjamin B. Covell, William 
Bliss, Jr., Michael Randall, Elijah Knap, Tillinghast Tompkins, Elihu 
Mosher, 2d, James Haffords (armorer,) MeriU Hathaway, Lsracl Smith, 
Henry Frederick, Hampton Peirce, Gardner Chase, Benjamin Douglas. 
Total, 70; including officers. 

The preceding company was stationed in New Bedford, ready for 
service at a moment's warning; did fatigue duty, &c. 

All the members of this company were of New Bedford excepting 
Lieut Gray, who was from Fairhaven, Charles AVood, who was from 
Dartmouth, and the last six named on the list, who were from Free 
town. I believe that four* only of the company are living. Charles 

*Rol)ert Tuckerman, Jonathan IIowlanH, Jr., Thomas Durfee, and John Akin. 
L 



90 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

Gilbert was killed by a stupid sentinel, stationed at the gun-house on 
Spring street, near Sixth. He was going the rounds in the night in- 
specting the posts, and not answering promptly the first demand for 
the countersign, he was shot and instantly killed. [August, 187G.] 

ARTILLERY COMPANY. 

Return Pay-RoU of Capt. Samuel Stall's compauy of artillery, of the 
2d Brig. 5th Division of Massachusetts Militia, stationed in New Bed- 
ford, and detached by order of Lieut. -Col. Benjamin Liucoln : 

Officers.— Sanmel Stall, Capt. ; Frederick Mayhew, 1st Lieut. ; Hay- 
don Coggeshall, 2d Lieut. ; Thomas Earl, Sergt. ; George S. Dunham, 
do ; Thomas Martin, do. ; Jesse Haskell, do. ; David Kempton, Corp. ; 
Thomas Ellis, do. ; feleg Clarke, do. ; Watson Ellis, do. ; George Cas- 
well, Drummer: Rus^sgrTESbtli, iTii^r; John Wrightington, Matross. 

rrivcUes.— Charles Coggeshall, Nathan Perry, Lloyd Hjwland, John 
Heath, Nash De Cost, Martin Hathaway, Sylvanus Sowle, Ira Caswell, 
Isaac Kempton, Wing Howland, Josiah Smith, Thomas Maxfleld, 
Abraham Peirce, Warren Maxfleld, James Cannon, Henry Coflin, Bry- 
ant Macomber, Heni-y Place, Jonathan Giflbrd, Avery Parker, Smith 
Stetson, Grifliu Barney, Jr., John Reynolds, Barnabas Smith, Ezekiel 
Tripp, James Howland, 3d, Allen Shearman, Edmund Jackson, Joseph 
L. Jenney, John P. West, Richard West, Isaac Smith. 

New Bedford, August, 1814. 

But two of this company survive, — Lloyd Howland, a resident of 
New Bedford, and John Heath, who lives, it is believed. In Brooklyn, 
N. y. [August, 187(;.] 



XVIII. 
THE SHIP RP:BECCA. 

BY WILLIAM T, KUSSELL. 

[Prepared December, 1844.] 
The ship Rebecca was the first .ship built in New Bedford. She was 
launched in the spring of 1785. George Claghorn was the master car- 
penter, who afterwards built the frigate Constitution, the pride of our 
navy. 



APPENDIX. 91 

The Rebecca was owned by Joseph Russell and his sons Barnabas 
and Gilbert Russell. The timber of which she was built was chiefly- 
cut in the southwesterly part of the town, now covered with houses 
and gardens. She measured 175 67-95 tons, which at that time was 
considered so immensely large that she was the wonder and the ad- 
miration of all the country round. Teople from Taunton, Bridge- 
water, and all the neighboring towns, came to New Bedford to see the 
big ship. There was a woman figure-head carved for her, and when 
it was about being put upon her a number of the Friends' Society re- 
monstrated against so vain and useless an ornament, and she went to 
sea without it. 

The owners of the Rebecca had some difficulty in finding a man of 
sufticient experience to trust with the command of so big a ship. Now 
we have a schooner of larger tonnage running to New York, as a 
packet; (schooner Richmond is 180 tons.) 

James Haydon was finally selected for her captain, and Cornelius 
Grinnell chief mate. She sailed on her first voyage to Philadelphia, 
from thence to Liverpool. The second voyage Cornelius Grinnell was 
captain, and continued to command her for six years. 

The Rebecca was the first American whalcship that doubled Cape 
Horn. She was commanded by Captain Kearsley, and made a success- 
ful voyage, obtaining a cargo of sperm oil on the coast of Chili, and 
returning iu about twelve months. 

The Rebecca fiually made a disastrous end. She sailed from Liver- 
pool for New York iu the autumn of 1798, commanded by Captain 
Gardner, (the father of the present Captains Gardner,) and has never 
been heard of from that time .to this. 

XOTE.— Capt. Cornelius Howland and Caleb Greene, the schoolmaster, were owners 
in the Rebecca when she made her Pacific voyage. Some of the scliooners of the 
present day are nearly four times tlie size of the Rebecca. She was not tlie first ship 
built in Bedford. The building of the Dartmouth has an earlier date, and our late 
fellow-citizen Thomas Kempton said that a ship called the Bedford was built on the 
west side of the Acushnet as early as 1770. This could not have been the historic 
Bedford. 

Frederick C. Sanford, of Nantucket, in his valuable and interesting article in the 
Xantucket Inquirer, 18.r2, on the Pioneers of the Whale Fishery, says that " in 1791 
our ships entered the Pacific." This is the year that the Rebecca doubled Cape 
Horn. Accounts difler as to which took the lead in the adventure, Xantucket or New 
Bedford. In a letter dated August 27th, 1876, Mr. Sanford says that " in consequence 
of the great success in the Pacific of ships from London and Mr. Rotch's ships from 
Dunkirk, six ships wei-e in 1790 fitted for whaling in that ocean from Nantucket. The 
Beaver sailed first, August, 1791." The first start from this country for doubhng 
Cape Horn was no doubt from Nantucket. The Rebecca was not fitted for the Pacific. 
Information obtained on the voyage induced the captain to ti-y his luck there. Which 
of the two ships first rounded the Cape does not appear,— is not of much importance. 

The following extracts fonn a part of the conclusion of Mr. Sanford's interesting 
article. His description of the vessels and the men employed in this bold enterprise, 
will apply to the New Beilfonl as well as to the Nantucket pioneers engaged in it. 



92 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 



No one will question the truth of the portrait he lias drawn of the hartly, bold, and 
enterprising men of Nantucket, who were the world-renowned leaders in this extra- 
ordinary branch of the world's industrial pursuits. The story of the whalers borders 
upon the romance of historj', and deserves an abler historian than any who have yet 
attempted to relate it. Who so well qualified as the Mriter of the article from which 
we have quoted? 

" In 1791 our ships entered the Pacific in pursuit of their prey. They doubled Cape 
Horn in a class of vessels that would be considered unsafe at this day to perform a 
summer voyage across the Atlantic, small in size, not exceeding 250 tons in burthen, 
heavy, dull sailers, without copper on their bottoms, pooi-ly and scantily fitted in- 
deed, but manned with men of an iron nerve, and an energy that knew no turning, 
and here again they were successful." 

"lam fully aAvare that New Bedford suri)asscs all other places engaged in the 
whale fishery, in wealth and prosperity ; success has followed exertion in a ratio of 
one hundred fold, and there are very few places in our country which have arisen to 
sucli a height of prosperity in so short a period. It seems almost the work of an 
enchanter." 

" Other places have eclipsed Nantucket of late, but the well-earned fame of our 
sires knows no diminution, but brightens their laurels as time lessens their numbers. 
Nantucket may with an honest pride look back to a long list of worthies, men filled 
with interminable perseverance and an energy that defied and overcame all obsta- 
cles, a list that will bear no unworthy comparison with Samuel Adams and his revo- 
lutionary companions, as tleserving of lier i)ride as the Jewels of Cornelia." 



XIX. 
INTERESTING TOWN MEETING, JANUARY 4th, 1847. 

THE LAST TOWN MEETING ; THE WATER STREET CONTROVERSY. 

Vote to accept Water street on coudition that bonds are given to 
save town harmless. 

and Maxfleld Street extension accepted to Hillman street on condi- 
tion, Jany. 21, 1846. 

Town-meeting in relation to northerly extention, Jany. 4th, 1847. 

On memorial of Samuel Kodman he seeks release from the bond for 
$2000 for damages to George Howland. 

James B. Congdon moderator of meeting. 

Edward Merrill moves that S. Rodman be released from the payment. 

Sampson Perkins moves that the whole subject be indefinitely post- 
poned. 



APPENDIX. 93 

Thomas D. Eliot moves reference to committee. 

meeting adjourned to afternoon. 

T. D. Eliot's motion withdrawn. 

motion of postponement negatived. 

Edward Merrill's motion carried Y. 159, N. 134. S. Eodman to be 
released and bond cancelled. 

Another meeting called. 

Art. 1. accep. of Water to Maxfield St. 

discontinuance of Water from North Street to its northern terminus. 

meeting in relation to, Jan. 11th, 1847, James B. Congdon moderator. 

moderator declares no action can be had in relation to the layout of 
the streets north to Maxflcld. 

Thomas Barstovv moves the indcfluite postponement of the propo- 
sition to discontinue the street. 

Communication from George Howland. 

Note. The following is a copy of the note from George Howland. 

" To the citizens of New Bedford in town meeting assembled. I 
stand ready, whenever the town will discontinue North Water street, 
from the north side of North street to the north side of contemplated 
Hillman street or continuance North Water street to contemplated 
Maxfleld street, to refund to the town the .$2000 paid me for damages 
for land taken in the extention of said Water street, northerly. 

Signed GEORGE HOWLAND. 

Another communication from G. Howland. 

Note.— The following is the second note from George Howland, 

" George Howland will not encumber the passage now used from 
North street to Samuel Rodman's wharf for 5 years — and at any time 
during his life he will suffer the town to lay out Water street to Max- 
fleld street without cost so far as he is concerned : provided the land 
owners between North street and Maxfield sti-eet would give the land 
over which the street shall pass and permit the street to be continued 
to Maxfield street without expense to the town so far as the proprie- 
tors of the land are concerned. 

Signed. GEORGE HOWLAND 

by Matthew Howland. 

remarks made by Sampson Perkins and Tim'i'y G. Coffin 

in opposition to postponement : , 

by Rodney French, ', 

Benjamin Rodman, and 

E. M. Robinson 

in favor of postponement. 

Meeting adjourned to afternoon. 

E. M. Robinson continues in favor of pospf 

Sampson Perkins, George Randall and A. Barker in opposition, 

David R. Greene & Rodney French in support of the motion. 



94 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

Meeting adjourned to Jan. 12 at 9 o'clock. 

Adjournment. 

Motion for indefinite postponement withdrawn. 

Kenewed by David II. Greene. 

11. French resumed in favor of postponement, followed by E. M. 
Robinson & D. K. Greene on same side. & by Sampson Perkins & Ab"> 
Barker In opposition. 

Question decided in the negative Y. 109 N. 183. 

Sampson Perkins moves that Water street from North street to its 
northern terminus be discontinued. 

Pending the motion the meeting adjourned. 

Adjourned meeting at 2i o'clock P. M. 

The moderator then stated the question to be on Mr. Perkins motion 
to discontinue that part of Water street named in the warrant, and 
then proceeded further to state, that he had felt it his duty, with the 
permission of the meeting to say a few words in relation to the course 
which the debate had taken. He pointed out the peculiar character of 
the subjects which had been and then were before the town, and ac- 
counted for and justified the extensive range which had been taken 
and allowed, to that fact, and the peculiar manner in which the subject 
had been brought forward for the action of the inhabitants. He then 
reminded the meeting, that nothing could justify attacks upon private 
character — that the fair name and fame of the citizens of the town 
were of more value than money, and, in conclusion pointed out the 
true course of discussion upon the question then before the meeting. 

Motion of E. M. Robinson to discontinue North AVater street with 
proviso. 

His remarks. 

He states "if all further action upon the subject should be sus- 
pended, the sum of tioo thousand dollars would be immediately paid 
into the treasury of the town." 

Whole subject indefinitely postponed. 

Benj. Rodman hands his mother Elizabeth Rodman's check to mod- 
erator for f 2000. 

The record reads — " Benjamin Rodman, Esq. then rose and having 
obtained liberty of the meeting, stated to the inhabitants that his aged 
mother, unwilling that any imputation of unfairness or of having vio- 
lated any engagement should rest upon the character of her son, had 
put into his hands, without the knowledge of his brother Samuel a 
check for two thousand dollars to be placed into the treasury of the 
town." 

Moderator gives check to treasurer. 

Motion of E. M. Robinson of thanks to the moderator. 

The record is "That the thanks of the town be given to James 
Bunker Congdon Esquire, for the impartialitri , fairness and ability, 



APPENDIX. 1)5 

with which he has discharged the duties of moderator of this meeting," 
which was passed unanimously. 

A. Barlvcr speaks on question of vote of thanks to moderator. 

The record reads — "he disclaimed any feelings of ill-will towards 
either of the two gentlemen whose names had been so closely con- 
nected with the discussion, and hoped that nothing he had said would 
be construed into any reflection upon their characters." 

Art. 4 of the warrant for the meeting considered, [to review the 
whole proceedings in relation to Water street.] 

On motion of R. French, indefinitely postponed. 

Closing part of the record — "While this motion was pending, 
David R. Greene stated to the meeting that he liad in his possession a 
check signed by Samuel Rodman for two thousand dollars which had 
been placed in the hands of the Treasurer of the town; that Mr. Rod- 
man, although he continued to entertain the clearest conviction that 
no more than Justice had been done him by the act of the town in re- 
leasing him from the obligation of his bond, was unwilling that any 
of his fellow-citizens should think that injustice had been done them 
by that act, and therefore he was willing to put back into the treasury 
of the town the amount which liad been paid as damage to George 
Howland." 

The meeting was then briefly addressed by Sampson Perkins, Rodney 
French, and George Randall, who severally expressed the hope that 
nothing that had been said would be construed into disrespect or ill 
wdl towards the two persons whose names had been so much used in 
the debate— and also by Isaac D. Hall, who expressed his pleasure at 
being able to say that both of those gentlemen had come out of the 
trial without a blemish upon their characters. 

The moderator then put the motion for adjournment which was 
carried unanimously. 

Note. — This was a most extraordinary meeting, more exciting and 
interesting than any town meeting ever held hei*e. It was for this 
reason that the proceedings were entered so fully. 



96 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. • 

XX. 

NEW BEDFORD IN 1845. 

[The following sketch of New Bedford thirty-one years ago, forms a 
part of an article by a New Bedford contributor, published in the Na- 
tional Magazine for September, KSliJ.] 

It is difficult for any one, and particularly difficult for a stranger, to 
form anything like a true estimate of the magnitude and character of 
the business operations of New Bedford. Lowell and Fall River place 
at once before the eyes of the visitor the whole extent of their indus- 
trial instrumentalities — buildings, stock, machinery, men, women, 
and children all appear and present an imposing array of ingenious 
and productive movement;" and as the eye takes in the long ranges of 
towering factories, and the ear is almost stunned with the loud and 
never-ceasing clamour and roar of the w-hcels and the furnaces, and 
the long lines of busy and willing hands, all seem drawn up in orderly 
array to their respective tasks, the mind is furnished with all the ele- 
ments for the formation of a correct judgment as to the magnitude of 
the enterprises in which the inhabitants of those towns are engaged. 

Our farmers, too, can easily put into the possession of the looker-on 
the means of a true appreciation of their agricultural operations. 
Ayrshires and plough-shares, crops, cribs, and cattle, porkers, pens, 
and poultry, smoked hams, and Durhams, long-horned, and short- 
horned, and no-horned, l)arns, bins, bulls, and bannocks, fine-top 
and red-top grasses, and lasses, bumpkins, and pumpkins, all are to be 
viewed and reviewed at once ; so that the visitor to the prize-farm 
is not left a moment in doubt as to the agencies of production, the 
result produced, or as to the right of the proprietor and manager 
to the silver pitcher at the next state agricultural exhibition, or county 
cattle show. 

But New Bedford has no such opportunities for display. Its inhab- 
itants have no means for concentrating and grouping the agencies and 
results of their enterprise and industry, so as to cause them to make 
a revelation, full and complete, of their claims to the notice and ad- 
miration of the world. Scattered over the ocean, each of the floating 
magazines of skill, perseverance, and labour, puts forth during the 
course of its years-long adventure an aggregate of well-directed and 
vigorous efl'ort that cannot be paralleled within the same limited ex- 
tent of operations in any other branch of human industry. 

But who can see, who can appreciate this? Alone, on the great 
deep, afar ofl", beyond the ken of affectionate regard or intelligent cu- 
riosity, these little bands of hard-working, much-enduring, wealth- 
producing men, in their sea-encircled domain, pursue their toll with 
an activity that never tires, a resoluteness that crushes in its grasp 



APPENDIX. 97 

difficulty and opposition, as the mailed hand of the warrior the feeble 
opposition of childhood, united with the exercise of a degree of pru- 
dence, decision, and skill, which many a cabinet council might vainly 
emulate. Year after year they i)ursue their adventurous toil, and, re- 
turning, add the fruits of their hardy, intelligent and errant industry 
to the world's aggregate wealth, without any just appreciation, on the 
part of the landsman, of the enormous amount of vigorous and self- 
denying oflFort which has been put forth in its accumulation. 

Since there cannot be, in reality, spread out before the eye of the 
observer such an array of the business instrumentalities of the town 
as will give him an idea of their magnitude, let us, for a moment, call 
in the aid of the imagination, and sketch a picture which may assist in 
giving something like an adequate impression of their potential char- 
acter. 

Take the wand of Prospero — 

" And by your art, set the wild waters in a i-oar," 

That from their various and remote cruising grounds, the New Bedford 
whalemen, " ordered by the safe provisions of your art," may sudden- 
ly concentrate in the offing, and in a single line enter the waters of 
the bay near which the town is situate. Cast your eye upon that long 
line of noble ships. The leading vessel has already rounded the light, 
and entered the harbour, while the last of the fleet has just shot into 
the waters of the bay. Onward they come, their white canvas shin- 
ing like a milky-way upon the waters. And now the pioneer ship 
having reached the northern extremity of the inner harbour, the sig- 
nal is given, and the two hundred and fifty ships which compose that 
imposing and majestic array, come up to the wind, let go their an- 
chors, and are soon to be seen, with every sail furled, quietly reposing 
upon the waters of the secluded haven. From the channel of the 
river, afar out, four or five miles beyond the point which makes the 
southern extremity of the town, almost as fiir as the eye can reach, 
extends the line, nearly ten miles long, of vessels which compose the 
whaling fleet of New Bedford. To the mind capable of grasping in, 
all its vastness and comprehensiveness the far off scene, of which 
this splendid array is but the representative, few sights upon which 
the eye can rest would be more significant or sublime. Another signal 
is given ! and from the sides' of the ships are seen quickly to descend 
more than one thousand of those buoyant and graceful craft whose 
speed, when urged through the waters by the sturdy whalers, outstrips 
that of the fleet monsters who vainly strive to escape from the dart of 
the hunters of the ocean, are ranged in unbroken line in front of the 
fleet. Nearly six miles in length is this whaling flotilla, as each boat 
with head to the north is made ready to move forward in the pageant 
M 



98 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

which is to exhiijit the extent and the potency of New Bedford enter- 
prise. 

In that interminable line of boats, floating like an immense sea- 
serpent upon the still waters of the Accushnett, are seated at the oar 
more than seven thoitsand men. There, ready to display that aptitude, 
fearlessness and vigour which is called forth and demanded by their 
occupation, are to be seen the operatives of the New Bedford fisheries. 
More than seven thousand men, not women and children, but strong, 
hardy, vigorous men! with powers of endurance and capacities for 
labor not exceeded by any other on the face of the globe, are contained 
in those little light and beautiful "skimmers of the seas," whose mo- 
tions, like the prancing of the generous steed, seem to chide the delay 
which restrains them from darting forward over the waters. Four 
times as many men are there, as composed the American army when 
at Bunker Hill the British hirelings were taught a lesson which al- 
lowed them no longer to sneer at the prowess of American peasantry ; 
and more than composed the army, which on that memorable day, was 
sent to drive those peasantry from their half formed intrenchments. 
More individuals are there, than made up the sum total of the inhabit- 
ants of New Bedford twenty-five years ago ; and although it now 
numbers not far from sixteen thousand inhabitants, it would take the 
adult male population of two such towns to furnish such a band of 
ocean operatives. See, the line has started. Onward they move, 

" With pennon streaming and with lance in vest," 

The oars of the light-hearted crews keeping time to the music of their 
merry songs. Divided into as many detachments as there are ships to 
which they are respectively attached, they range along before us, and 
with flags and signals displayed, and exhibiting the instruments of 
their craft, the weapons of their hardy warfare, one after another, in 
numbers almost numberless, glide away from our point of observation, 
and are lost in the distance. 

The wand of the enchanter is broken ; the vision has fled ! We 
could not follow that imposing array, even if we should imagine that 
from the top of one of the whalers Ave heard the inspiring cry, "There 
she blows," arousing into generous rivalry and untiring activity all 
the energies of the sailor-boy's breast. The pageant has vanished; 
and having dismissed the assembled ships to their respective cruising 
grounds, there let us leave them with the expression of the earnest 
hope 

" Tliat bright success may on their vah)iir wait, 
And rich reward attend upon their toil." 

Having, by this imaginary concentration of its forces, attempted to 
give a general view of the character and extent of the industrial op- 
erations of New Bedford, we shall proceed to give a brief description 



APPENDIX. 99 

of the town ; a few facts in relation to its history and progress, and 
some statistics exhibiting the results of the home business in which 
its inhabitants are engaged. 

The town is pleasantly and eligibly situated on the west side of a 
small estuary, called the Accushnett River, which makes up in a 
northerly direction into the land near the western extremity of Buz- 
zard's Bay, on the south shore of Massachusetts. It was formerly a 
part of the town of Dartmouth, which town once included the towns 
of Westport, Dartmouth, New Bedford, and Fairhaven. It is a half 
shire town of the county of Bristol. 

It w'as incorporated in the year 1787. In the year 1812, that portion 
of the town situated on the east side of the Accushnett was set ofl' as 
a separate township, retaining the name of Fairhaven, by which it 
always has been distinguished from the opposite settlement of Bedford. 

Nothing can exceed the beauty of the situation of New Bedford. It 
is built upon ground which rises rapidly from the river, and the view 
from the opposite town of Fairhaven, and from the harbour, as it is 
approached from the south, is not exceeded by ahy town in the Union. 
It is laid out with much regularity, the streets nearly all forty feet 
wide, crossing each other at right angles. Most of the sidewalks are 
flagged and many of the streets are paved. The buildings are mostly 
of wood, although several of the finest houses and stores are built of 
a more durable and safe material. 

Few strangers who visit New Bedford fail to be struck with the ex- 
ceeding neatness and beauty of the dwellings in the more elevated 
portions of the town. Much of this attractiveness is owing to the 
circumstance, that they are nearly all surrounded by extensive and 
well cultivated gardens, a^nd that the streets on which they are built 
are bordered with a beautiful growth and great variety of ornamental 
trees. County street, which runs the whole extent of the thickly set- 
tled part of the town, about two miles, upon the summit of the rising 
ground on which it is built, is allowed to be almost without a rival in 
this country for its various and attractive beauties. 

Visitors are not only strongly impressed with the beauty of its sit- 
uation, and the tastefuluess and richness of many of its public build- 
ings and private residences, but by the aspect o{ freshness which it 
everywhere presents. The large number of newly-erected buildings, 
particularly dwelling-houses, is an evidence of rapid growth, and of 
the accumulation of means by which that growth is promoted and sus- 
tained; and that nearly all these recent erections, are the neat, but 
humble dwellings of the trader, the mechanic, and the labourer, is not 
among the least gratifying evidences of real and permanent increase 
and prosperity. The desire for a home of one's own, possesses a 
charm; and the knowledge that the stranger landlord cannot inter- 
meddle with our joys, has, to an extent rarely known, among a thickly 



100 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

settled population, au abiding and active influence upon the people of 
New Bedford. From this cause is it, that one of the first and most 
interesting sights which meets the eye of the visitor, is the great 
number of neat, modest, and convenient dwellings which are spread- 
ing themselves over the beautiful hill upon which the town is situate. 

In this disposition, so pleasing to contemplate, which has been made 
of the means which our honest industry and a laudable enterprise 
have placed at our disposal, I believe no one will undertake to say 
that a fair proportion has not been devoted to the gratification of a 
taste for the beautiful in village architecture and its accessories, the 
comfortable walk, the over-shadowing tree, the green inclosure, and 
the blooming flower garden. We cannot be said to be deficient in that 
love of the beautiful in nature, and art, so strikingly apparent in most 
of our New England towns, and which renders them the admiration of 
the traveller from other lands. The neat and comfortable dwellings 
of our mechanics, the extensive homes of some of our more wealthy 
inhabitants, the snug inclosure of the poor man, and the more en- 
larged and highly ornamental grounds of his richer neighbour, all 
manifest the presence of a nobler feeling than that which prompts to 
exertion from the mere love of gain. 

Our public edifices are creditable in style and liberality. Of our 
churches, it tnay, with much propriety, be remarked that we may not 
fear to have them examined, or mimbered. In a kind of architecture, 
in relation to which it is said, that the New Englanders are transgress- 
ors to a proverb, we have been so far successful, that all oifr places 
of public worship are respectable; and to one of them, has been ac- 
corded the high praise of standing without a rival in this part of the 
country. Our Town Hall has called forth the admiration of visitors 
of taste, and the buildings devoted to the schools, both in number and 
appearance, give an unequivocal indication that upon the important 
subject of education the people of New Bedford have been true to the 
principles of their Pilgrim ancestry. 

While the citizens of New Bedford have exhibited their taste, and 
of some, perhaps, it may be said, their opulence, in their private dwell- 
ings, they have not failed to devote a proper regard to the public con- 
venience, comfort, and safety, and the true prosperity and happiness 
of the inhabitants. It would be diflicult to find a community of the 
same population, where so liberal an outlay in every branch of public 
expenditure has uniformly been made. No department has been neg- 
lected ; and when the eflbrt was unsuccessfully made to obtain a vote 
for a city charter, it was urged as a reason against the change, that no 
public concernment had been neglected, and consequently no change 
was called for. 

The public buildings, the arrangements for the support and comfort 
of the poor and the sick, the means of public education, the condition 



APPENDIX. 



101 



of the streets and highways, and the state of the fire department, 
manifest unequivocal evidence of a liberal expenditure, and a careful 
and discreet supervision. 

The population of the town is estimated at about sixteen thousand. 
It has nearly doubled within the last ten years, every year having 
shown an increase. During this period, including the appropriations 
of the present year, there has been expended for public purposes about 
five hundred and twenty thousand dollars, not including above sixty 
thousand dollars which has been assessed as county taxes — an aver- 
age of flfty-two thousand dollars a year, with an average of twelve 
thousand inhabitants. Few communities in this country can exhibit a 
parallel to this. A view of some of the items of this expenditure may 
be interesting. There have been expended upon the 

Public schools, $162,000 

Public streets and highways, 103,000 

Fire departmeut, 37,000 

Paupers, 2^-000 

Public buiklmgs, about 100,000 

A comparison of the sum which has been expended upon the public 
schools, with that which during the same period of time it has cost to 
support the paupers, gives a favourable aspect to this statistical evi- 
dence of the condition and character of the inhabitants. It is proper, 
however, to observe, that this is about one half the whole amount 
which it has cost to maintain the paupers within the limits of the 
town. All such as have no residence in the state are supported, in 
part, by the state government, and for the support of the paupers from 
other towns, payment is made by the towns to Avhich they respectively 

belong. 

The following are the appropriations made at the Annual Town 

Meeting, in April last: 

For paupers, $2,800 
For streets, repaying, paving, curbing, and flagging, 12,400 

For lighting the streets, -<-'^ 

For public schools, 21,500 

For night-watch, ^'^'^ 

For payments on debt, .5,2.ir).43 

For lire department, "'000 

For new alms-h(nise, 12,000 

For incidental and miscellaneous, 4,800^ 

Making an aggregate of $70,73i>.43 

To meet this expenditure, and to pay the state tax of $1,510.50, and 
the county tax of $G,674.96, there has been assessed a tax of seventy- 
five thousand dollars, just the amount of the state tax voted by the last 
General Court. 



102 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

Real estate, $fi,132,300 

Personal estate, 9,037,000 

Tlie property of the town has been valueil by the assessors, at $ir),7(J!>,30() 

The number of taxables, is 4,141 

The number of polls, is (males twenty years of age and upwards) 3,7!<4 
The number of persons who pay a poll tax only, is '.',100 

One hundred and seventy-five of the taxables are people of colour. 
Several of them are large tax-payers. There are above one thousaud 
coloured persons residing in the town. 

Tlie valuation in the year 1836, was $11,360,350 

For 1844, it was 14,767,000 

After making this financial exhibit, it will not be thought necessary 
to go much into detail as to the condition of the several departments. 
Liberality of expenditure and a vigilant supervision are evident in 
every branch of the public aflairs of New Bedford. The public schools 
are, as we have seen, liberally provided for; their condition furnishes 
unequivocal evidence that the munificent appropriations of tlie inhab- 
itants are, and have been, expended under the direction of intelligent 
and devoted committee men. 

From the last report of the School Committee, we see that twenty- 
eight public schools are. sustained by the town, and that forty-seven 
teachers are constantly employed. Of this large number of teachers 
only four are males. 

A new brick school-house, for the accommodation of the public high- 
school, and one or more schools of a lower grade, has just been com- 
pleted. It has been built at an expense of about twelve thousand dol- 
lars, and is a beautiful and convenient structure. The number of 
public school-houses is seventeen. 

Perhaps, no better evidence of the cflective character of the fire de- 
partment can be given than the fact, that although nearly all the build- 
ings are of wood, the town has never been visited by an extensive 
conflagration. This department consists of a board of firewardens, 
twenty in number, from which three engineers are selected, a hook 
and ladder company, a company for the protection of property, and 
ten engine companies. For every engine, ten in number, a convenient 
house has been provided. The whole number of men belonging to the 
department is five hundred and twenty-five. Ten dollars a year is 
allowed to the firemen. 

The selectmen, in their last annual report, hold the following lan- 
guage in relation to the department : 

"The engines and apparatus attached to them, and all the other fire 
apparatus of the town, are in good order, as are the buildings appro- 
priated to their use, and the reservoirs, distributed over every part of 
the village, can, it is believed, aftbrd an ample supply of water for any 



APPENDIX. 103 

emergency. These gratifying facts, connected with the still more im- 
portant one, that we have a body of firemen who have not been, and 
cannot be, surpassed for all those qualities which give vigour and 
efficiency to the operations of a fire department, and whicli give calm- 
ness and assurance to the inhabitants when alarmed by the cry of fire, 
are sources of well-founded gratulation, and naake valid the claim of 
our department to an elevated position among similar establishments 
of our country, and in the estimation of those for whose safety and 
protection it has been founded and sustained." 

For the economical and comfortable support of the poor, no place 
has ever been found, so perfect as that which places them, under 
proper supervision, upon a farm. This mode was adopted many years 
ago by New Bedford. A farm of about a hundred acres was pur- 
chased, the cost of which, with the buildings, which were then erected, 
was about seven thousand dollars. We have seen the annual outlay. 
The farm has beeu increasing in value, and is now computed to be 
worth ten thousand dollars. A new alms-house is now in process of 
erection, which will cost about fifteen thousand dollars. A pleasauter 
and more commanding situation than that occupied by the present 
building, has been selected, and it will, when completed, not only be a 
safe and comfortable dwelling for the poor, but an ornament to the 
town, by whose enlightened liberality it will have been erected. 

In their care for the living, the inhabitants have not been unmindful 
of what is due to the dead. A public place of burial, called Oak Grove 
Cemetery, has been provided, containing eight acres of ground. A 
part of the cemetery is laid out in lots, the exclusive occupancy of 
which may be obtained from the authorities for a small consideration. 
The remainder is devoted to indiscriminate burial. It is a beautiful 
spot. Nature has been lavish of her gifts, and good taste marks the 
arrangements which have been made by the officers of the town to 
adapt the grounds to its sacred purpose. "The funds which have 
been derived from the lots taken by individuals," say the selectmen in 
the report before quoted, "have enabled the authorities to add to the 
convenience and beauty of the spot which has been selected as a place 
for the public interment of the dead, and every citizen, whatever may 
be his designs or wishes, with regard to himself or his friends, cannot 
but be gratified that the Common Burying Ground has, by the plan 
which has been adopted, been saved from tliat aspect of loathsomeness 
and abandonment, too often exhil)ited in such locations " 

The Rural Cemetery, a private ground, is well laid out ; and although 
not possessing the natural advantages of the other, the chaste and 
beautiful monuments, the neat inclosures, and the green shrubbery, 
give it a pleasing appearance, and speak of the possession, on the part 
of those who have availed of it as a place of sepulture, of those re- 
fined and exalted sentiments, which lead to the selection and embel- 



104 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

lishraents of nature's loveliest spots, as a final resting-place for the 
departed. 

In this town the curbing and flagging the side-walks, as well as all 
the other operations upon the streets, are performed at the public ex- 
pense. To this it is owing that the sum expended upon the highways 
has been so large. Between fifty and sixty thousand dollars have been 
expended upon the side-walks alone. Nearl}' every one of the streets 
will, at the close of the present year, have one of its side-walks flagged. 
Some of the more public thoroughfares are paved and have both the 
side-walks flagged. 

The Town Ilall is a magnificent structure. It is built of granite, and 
is one hundred feet long and sixty-one feet wide, and three stories in 
height. The lower story, or basement, is occupied as a public market. 
This room is spacious and convenient, and its stalls in good order, and 
all furnished with marble benches for the meats; and for the most 
part supplied with an abundance of those articles usually found in the 
public market. 

The second story is a hall for public meetings, eighty by sixty feet. 

In the third story are rooms for the accommodation of the officers of 
the town. Connected with the office of the Town Clerk, is a large 
fire-proof apartment, in which the records and papers of the town are 
deposited. 

In the hall is suspended a full length portrait of Washington, painted 
by William A. Wall, a native artist, from Stuart's celebrated picture, 
and presented to the town by a small number of the citizens. It has 
been pronounced, by competent judges, to be well and faithfully exe- 
cuted; and while it reflects credit upon the artist, and upon the public 
spirit of the individuals who caused it to be executed, it is highly 
ornamental to the beautiful hall. 

The edifice, which with the land beneath and around it, cost the 
town the sum of sixty thousand dollars, has been called by many, the 
handsomest building in New England devoted to civic purposes. 

Having glanced at the principal subjects connected with the town of 
a public or municipal character, let us for a moment look at what there 
is worthy of attention in the pursuits of its inhabitants, and the re- 
sults which have attended the exertions of individuals and corporate 
bodies. 

We have already spoken of that pursuit which forms the principal 
business of the town. A few details are wanting to give a complete 
idea of its extent, character, and results. 

The number of vessels belonging to the town', engaged in the whal- 
ing business, is two hundred and fifty-one. They are all ships but five. 
Collectively they measure eighty-two thousand one hundred and sixty- 
two tons. 

These ships are navigated and their operations carried on by crews 



APPENDIX. 105 

uurabering, on an average, not far from thirty men each. This malies 
the number on board the fleet above seven thousand, as has already 
been stated. 

These vessels, averaging them, have cost the owners more than 
thirty thousand dollars each. This of course includes the cost of the 
outfit. At this low estimate, then, the value of the New Bedford 
whaling -fleet is seven million five hundred and thirtij Ihonsand dollars. 

Add to this the value of the wharves, and oil, and candle factories, 
and the coopering, blacksmithiug, boat building, warehouses, and 
other mechanical establishments directly connected with, and depend- 
ent upon, the whaling operations, and we shall find that the amount of 
capital engaged in the business of catching oil from this town alone, 
will vary but little from nine millions of dollars. 

During the year 1844, there was brought into the port by the New 
Bedford fleet — 

Sperm oil, 54,509 

Whale oil, 102,99-2 

Making an aggi-egate of 157,501 barrels, 

Or four million nine hundred and sixty-one thousand two hundred and 
eighty-one and a half gallons. During the same time, nine hundred 
and seventy-eight thousand five liundred and ninety-two pounds of 
whalebone were imported. The value of the importation is ascer- 
tained as follows : 

1,717,0;?3^ galls, sperm oil, at 90 cents, $1,545,.330.15 

3,244,248 " whale oil, " 75 cents, 1,175,486.80 

978,592 pouncls whalebone," 35 cents, 342, .507.20 

Total value of the product of the fishing for tlie year 1844, $3,003,324.15 

More than three millions of dollars. About one third of this amount 
is paid to the crews of the ships. 

Up to the 25th day of July, of the present year, the importations 
have been 

SpeiMn oil, 35,401 

Whale oil, 08,101 

103,502 barrels, 

And about seven hundred thousand pounds of whalebone. At the 
same prices the value of the receipts this year up to the above named 
date is $2,001,235.27^, more than two millions of dollars. 

In the year 1843 the results of the fishery were as follows : 

Whole number of barrels of oil, 

Sperm oil, 01,0i>(i 

Whale oil, 40,922 

101,988 Iwrrels. 



lOG CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

This importatiou, with the whalebone which was brought iu the 
same year, about 360,000 pounds, was estimated to have been worth 
two million three hundred thousand dollars. 

On the first day of January, 1844, the number of ships in the fishery 
was two hundred and nineteen, measuring G9,703 tons. The number is 
now two hundred and fifty-one, measuring 82,102 tons, showing an 
increase in about a year and a half of thirty-two ships, and in the ton- 
nage 12, 459 tons; about 15 per cent, in the number of vessels and 18 
per cent, in the amount of tonnage. 

The district of New Bedford includes the towns of Dartmouth, New 
Bedford, Fairhaven, and Rochester. 

There are belonging to the district, one hundred and seventeen 
thousand five hundred and sixty -nine tons of shipping. 

This shows it to rank as the fourth tonnage district in the United 
States : New York, Boston, and New Orleans exceeding it. New 
Bedford alone has more than double the amount of registered tonnage 
owned in Philadelphia. 

In the district the registered tonnage is 108,640 tons. 

Enrolled tonnage is 8,929 tons. 

11",5(;9 tons. 

In the year 1835, August 1st, the tonnage of the district was but 
73,982 tons. 

On the first day of Januaiy, of the present year, there were cm- 
ployed in the whale fishery, from the United States, (143 ships, 35 brigs, 
and 17 schooners and sloops. The tonnage was 218,055 tons. Since 
that time there has been a considerable increase. The number of ves- 
sels now engaged in the business is about 720. 

The manufacture of the products of the fishery forms one important 
part of the business of the town. Much of the sperm oil imported is 
prepared for use by the difl'erent processes by which spring, summer, 
fall, and winter oil, (as the diff'erent kinds are called, according to the 
season when the oil is pressed,) are produced, before it finds its way 
to the various markets of the country : and from the spermaceti, an 
article exclusively the product of the spermaceti whale, is manufac- 
tured the spermaceti candle, so universally admired and esteemed for 
its pleasant light. There are about twenty oil and candle maufac- 
tories in the town, most of which are in operation. A large amount 
of capital is invested in this branch of business, and several hundred 
persons find regular and liealthful employment in connexion with it. 
A large portion of the right whale, or, as it is generally called, whale 
or black oil, is exported to the north of Europe. The manufacture 
for the purification of this kind of oil is carried on to some extent in 
the town, and more extensively in the country, the high price of sperm 



APPENDIX. 107 

oil causing it to be much used in lamps as a substitute for the purer 
and dearer article. 

Much of the sperm oil is consumed in the various manuAxctories of 
this countr}' and England. It is thought, by some, that the time is 
not far distant when the whole importation of this article will be re- 
quired for the purposes of oiling machinery. Nothing has yet been 
found which can be used as a substitute for pure sperm oil upon delicate 
machinery. 

It will be readily seen that the prosecution of the business in which 
New Bedford is engaged, must necessarily give employment to a large 
amount of labour not immediately connected with the operations of 
procuring the oil. 

Many of the ships belonging to the town have been built there, and 
no better ships float the ocean than those which have been launched 
from the ship yards of New Bedford and the neighbouring town of 
Fairhaven. The business of repairing the ships gives employment to 
a large number of shipwrights, and before anything is done towards 
placing on board the whaler the outfit for her voyage, calkers, riggers, 
sail-makers and painters find a demand for the exercise of their re- 
spective crafts. 

But our space will not allow us to enter into the details of the op- 
eration of fitting out a whale ship. Tlie amount of from two to five 
thousand barrels or casks are required for each vessel, and while 
Michigan supplies the staves, and Tall River, "Wareham, and Taunton 
furnish the hoops, New Bedford mechanics supply the labour which 
puts the raw material into a shape to fit it for the use of the whaler. 
The thousand whale boats which are now hanging upon the cranes of 
the gallant ships, or which are driven forward by their hardy crews, 
in pursuit of the ocean monsters, are all the product of the New Bed- 
ford workshop. 

The irons which fasten the whaler to his victim, and the lance which 
gives the death blow and ends the contest, are wrought by the skill 
and industry of New Bedford artisans. 

Largely have the mechanics and labourers of this thriving town 
shared in the benefits which have crowned the whaling enterprises of 
the inhabitants. We may be mistaken, but from the observations and 
inquiries which we have been enabled to make, we have arrived at the 
conclusion that there is not a town in New England where so large a 
proportion of the property is held by what are generally termed the 
working men, the mechanics and labourers of the place. Take the 
men on board the ships, who we have seen number over seven thou- 
sand, and add to them the men, women, and children who, upon the 
shore, are engaged in some one of the numerous vocations directly 
connected with the whaleman's operations, and it will be found, that 
In the New Bedford whaling business and its various branches, daily 



108 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

employment is given to more than ten thousand persons. Add to 
these the great numbers who, in various parts of the world, are fur- 
nishing the materials which are demanded, and the supplies which are 
consumed, in the prosecution of the fisheries, and those who find em- 
ployment in the disposition which is made of the profits of the busi- 
ness, and the aggregate would present astonishing and gratifying 
evidence of its magnitude and importance. 

In connexion with this branch of our subject we would notice the 
cordage manufactory recently put into operation. The moving force 
is two steam engines of twenty horse power each. About seventy-five 
persons are employed, half of whom are females. Not far from four 
hundred tons of cordage Ai"e annually manufactured. 

Our remarks in relation to the business of the place, have thus far 
been confined to those pursuits directly appertaining to that branch of 
industry in which the inhabitants are so generally and so deeply en- 
gaged. To give a faithful picture of the industrial aspects of the 
town, we may add a word in relation to other business operations. 

Steam, as a moving power, is fast increasing here. Two planing 
machines, a manufactory of looking-glasses' and picture frames, two 
mills for grinding grain, several blacksmithing and carpentering estab- 
lishments, and a manufactory of Prussian blue, from which a beautiful 
article is turned out, are to a greater or less extent in operation 
through the instrumentality of the steam engine. An extensive es- 
tablishment for the manufacture of linseed oil, by steam, will go into 
operation in a few weeks. The business of making paper hangings is 
carried on. Carriage making, to an annual amount of fifty thousand 
dollars, employs quite a number of mechanics. The products of their 
industry are all consumed in (he town. The large number of livery 
stables, and the somewhat unusual number of individuals who keep 
their own carriages, make this branch of business extensive and 
profitable. 

The New Bedford Marine Railway and Wharf Company have a cap- 
ital of fifty thousand dollars, and on a small island owned by them, 
separated from the busiest part of the town by a narrow channel, and 
connected with it by a portion of the bridge, one mile in length, which 
unites New Bedford with the opposite town of Fairhaven, they have, 
beside wharves, warehouses, dwelling-houses, and mechanics' shops, 
a marine railway, which affords great facilities for cleaning and repair- 
ing the smaller class of vessels. The two individuals who compose 
that company are extensively engaged in dredging operations in vari- 
ous parts of the country, as well as in their own town. They have 
machines in operation, several of them moved by steam power, in 
Canada, and in four different States of the Union. 

The New Bedford Institution for Savings holds funds to the amount 



APPENDIX. 109 

of four huudred and twelve thousand dollars. The number of depos- 
itors is nineteen huudred and forty. 

There are four banks, the united capitals of which amount to thir- 
teen hundred thousand dollars. These corporations severally own the 
building's in which they are kept. That occupied by the Merchants' 
and Mechanics' Banks, is a fine structure of brick, with a front of 
hewn granite from the Fall Elver quarry. The pillars and other orna- 
mental work of the Town Hall are of the same material. This granite 
has been thought, by some, to be superior to that procured at Quincy. 
There are now but two insurance offices iu the town, both con- 
ducted on the mutual principle. Four stock offices, are now winding 
up their affairs. One of these, the Merchants', presents an example 
of successful operation seldom exhibited. In September next, it will 
be twenty years since it commenced business. Funds for a dividend 
at that time are now on hand. The company will then have paid out 
to its stockholders, upon a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, 
three hundred and eighty thousand dollars, or nineteen per cent, per 
annum, and have its whole capital and a small surplus remaining. It 
now has but few risks out, all of which are re-insured. 

The New Bedford and Taunton Kailroad is twenty miles long. It 
connects the two places whose names the corporation bears, and was 
constructed at an expense of four hundred thousand dollars. Nearly 
all the stock is owned in New Bedford, the managers are residents iu 
that town, and so successful has it been in its operations that the stock 
is now held at twenty-five per cent, advance. 

A glance at the benevolent, religious, and educational aspects of the 
place will finish our sketch of this village of the whalers. 

Among the benevolent undertakings of the inhabitants, the first iu 
importance is that which is sustained by the New Bedford Port Soci- 
ety. They have built a church, a small, but neat, wooden edifice, 
where services are every Sunday performed by a minister, who, in 
addition to his labours on that day, is expected to devote nearly all 
his time to the promotion of the temporal and spiritual welfare of the 
sailor. An evening meeting is held once a week. A registry office is 
connected with the "bethel," and its pages are often the means of 
giving, to distant friends and relatives, information of those who 
wander from their homes and seek employment upon the decks of the 
whale-ship. This society has a lady's branch, which has established a 
clothing store, where the sailor is sure to find well made articles of 
apparel, and which have the additional recommendation of being, for 
the most part, the work of the wives, widows, and daughters of the 
seaman. 

For an Orphan's Home, a cDuvenient dwelling has been purchased, 
where the children reside under the care of a matron and school-mis- 
tress. This establishment, under the supervision and control of the 



110 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

society of females, by whose energy and benevolence it has been es- 
tablished and sustained, bids fair to be a highly useful institution. 

The Bible Society is a branch of the American Institution. Its op- 
erations have been, for the most part, confiued to the supply of the 
destitute sailors, and of such as might be found without the scriptures 
Avithin the limits of the town. No ship leaves the harbour of New 
Bedford without a supply of Bibles for all on boarti. 

The Benevolent Society, and the Dorcas Society, in a quiet unob- 
trusive way, seek out and relieve the destitute and the sufleriug. By 
far the largest part of the benevolent operations of the town are sus- 
tained by the efforts of females, and a weekly gathering at the Town 
Hall, at which the industry and kindness of the New Bedford ladies 
are exercised for the relief of sickness and privation, presents a sight 
far more attractive than the crowded drawing-room or festive hall. 

The only literary societies, are the New Bedford Social Library As- 
sociation, and the New Bedford Lyceum, both incorporated institu- 
tions. The latter is confined to a provision for a course of lectures 
during the winter. It has a small amount of funds, the income of 
which, with the annual payments for tickets, are more than sufficient 
to compensate the lecturers and provide a room for their accommoda- 
tion. It has been in operation about seventeen years. 

The Li))rary Association is a much older institution. From a small 
beginning, in the infancy of the town, it has "grown with its growth, 
and strengthened with its strength," until it has arrived at a position 
of stability and usefulness highly gratifying to its friends and credit- 
able to the community. Its library contains five thousand four hun- 
dred volumes, and every year witnesses an increase. The books are 
allowed to be taken out by the proprietors, and an annual assessment 
furnishes the means of adding to the number and of paying the ex- 
penses of the institution. 

We have already spoken of the public schools. An interesting fact, 
connected with them, is the establishment of a public library exclu- 
sively for their use. By the enlightened liberality of the state and the 
town governments, a fund has been provided for a school library, 
which already numbers two thousand volumes. By a judicious decis- 
ion of the school committee, the means placed at their disposal were 
concentrated in the establishment of one library, instead of being di- 
vided among the diflerent schools, as has been generally the case in 
the towns of the state ; and the committee room in the Town Hail, 
fitted up for the purpose, makes a neat and convenient place of de- 
posit, and delivery to the children, for whose benefit the books have 
been purchased. 

There is one other library in the town. It belongs to the Friends' 
Academy, and contains two thousand volumes. This academy is an 
incorporated institution, and, in addition to the use of the books, the 



APPENDIX. 



Ill 



pupils have the advantage of a valuable philosophical apparatus. The 
academy building is delightfully situated on the rising ground in the 
west part of the town, and in the centre of a large inclosure beauti- 
fully set out with ornamental trees. The corporation has a fund 
which in part supports the institution. The names of the late William 
Eotch, of this town, and of Samuel Elam, of Newport, are associated 
with this academy as its early patrons and benefactors. Its pupils are 
now exclusively females. 

The adherents of almost every shade of religious belief are to be 
found in New Bedford. Twenty-one different houses of public worship 
exist within its limits. The Methodists, including a society of col- 
oured persons and one of Reformed Methodists, have five, the ortho- 
dox Congregationalists have four, the Baptists, Friends, Episcopalians, 
Unitarians, Universalists, Roman Catholics, and Mormons, have each 
one, and the Christians, so called, have five. Two of the latter are 
owned and occupied by societies of coloured persons. Last Sunday, 
(we write August 6,) it is believed that there were twenty-four ditt'er- 
ent religious gatherings in the town. The Come-outers and Millerites 
have regular meetings, and there is a small gathering of Friends who 
harmonize in sentiment with those who are familiarly known as the 
Hicksite portion of that body. 

The churches of New Bedford are nearly all built of wood. The 
Unitarian and one of the Congregational churches are of stone, and 
the Friends' Meeting House is a large edifice of brick. Several of them 
are costly buildings, and they are generally neat and kept in good 

order. 

We might extend our notice, as there are several subjects of inter- 
est to which we have not alluded; but we have already extended our 
article far beyond our original intention. Our object has been to ex- 
hibit this community in its industrial aspect ; to give an example of 
the growth of a town, and of a large accumulation of capital, by the 
well-directed enterprise and industry of its inhabitants. Let it be re- 
membered that the wealth which we have seen, as belonging to the 
people of New Bedford, has been accumulated by its inhabitants. It 
has not been the result of foreign labour, or the capital of non-resi- 
dents invested in the business of the place. In this point of view, it 
presents us with an example of successful enterprise, which has but 
few parallels in this, or any other country. And those who read our 
hasty sketch of the town will agree with us in the opinion, that our 
people have no reason to be ashamed of the disposition they have 
made of the means which have been placed at their disposal. 



112 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

XXL 

WHALERS DESTROYED BY THE CONFEDERATE 
CRUISERS. 

Following is a list of whaling vessels destroyed by the Alabama and 
other rebel cruisers during the rebellion, with the amount of oil on 
board. All except the first three named were captured by vessels 
fitted out from the British dominions. 

18G1. 

Unis. Sp. Bills. \Vh. 

Schooner John Adams, Provincetowu, ^ 

Schooner Mermaid, " >215 

Brig Parana, " 5 

215 

18G2. 

Ship Benjamin Tucker, New Bedford, 350 

Bark Eben Dodge, " clean. 

Bark Elisha Dunbar, " " 

Ship Levi Starbuck, ^ " " 

Bark Virginia, " " 

Ship Ocean Rover, Mattapoisett, 710 50 

Schooner Altamaha, Sippican, clean. 

Ship Ocmulgee, Edgartown, 250 

Schooner Courser, Provincetown, clean. 

Schooner Weather Gage, Provincetown, " 

Bark Alert, New Loudon, " 

1310 50 

1863. 

Bark Lafayette, New Bedford, 170 

Bark Nye, " 350 150 

Schooner Kingfisher, Fairhaven, 170 10 

Brig Kate Cory, Westport, 155 

Schooner Rienzi, Provincetown, 75 

920 IGO 

ISCi. 

Bark Edward, New Bedford 100 

Bark Golconda, " .... ... . 1037 050 

1037 750 



APPENDIX. 113 

18G5. 

Bbls. S;i. Bl);s. Wh. 

Bark Abigail, New Bedford, 30 

Sliip Brunswick, " 200 

Bark Congress, " 360 

Ship Euphrates, " 200 

Bark Gypsey, " 320 50 

Ship Hector, " 275 

Ship Hillman, " 200 

Ship Isaac Ilowland, " IGO 480 

Bark Isabella, " 300 

Bark Jireh Swift, " 400 

Bark Martha, 2d, " 200 

Ship Nassau, " 100 

Bark Nimrod, " 110 

Ship Sophia Thornton, " ........... clean. 

Bark Waverly, " 50 400 

Ship Wm. Thompson, " 250 

Bark Favorite, Fairhaven, 300 200 

Bark Covington, Warren, 100 

Bark Catherine, New London, 200 

Ship General Williams, " 200 

Bark Edward Carey, San Francisco, , , 275 

Brig Susan Abigail, " clean. 

Bark William C. Nye, " 150 

Bark Harvest, Honolulu, 300 

Bark Pearl, " clean. 

1710 4100 

25 New Bedford vessels, 2742 4150 

2 Fairhaven vessels, 470 210 

1 Mattapoisett vessel, 710 50 

1 Sippican vessel, clean. 

1 Westport vessel, 155 

1 Edgartown vessel, 250 

G Provincetowu vessels, 290 

1 Warren vessel, '. 100 

3 New London vessels, . 400 

3 San Francisco vessels, 275 150 

2 Honolulu vessels, 300 

46 vessels. 5192 5060 

No port has suffered as severely during the war as New Bedford, iu 
proportion to the amount of shipping owned. 
By a rough estimate the value of the vessels destroyed is $1,150,000, 
o 



114 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

aud of the oil $500,000; making the whole damage to the whaling 
interest by the acts of rebel pirates $1,G50,000. 



XXII. 

THE NEW BEDFORD FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 

[This sketch of the history of the New Bedford Free Public Library 
was prepared to accompany the volumes of its reports sent to the 
Centennial Exposition.] 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, recognizing from the earliest 
period of its history the educational influence of public libraries, gave 
the assistance of its legislation in the promotion of their establish- 
ment and management. 

Early in the present century, laws were enacted giving corporate 
powers to the proprietors of Social Libraries, many of which had been 
established in various parts of the Commonwealth; and under the 
provisions of tlie law the number was increased, their condition made 
permanent, and their management rendered convenient and efl'ective. 

But a few years after the incorporation of the town of New Bed- 
ford, the want of books and the inability of most of the inhabitants to 
procure them, led to a combination of effort for that purpose. 

The early settlers of the village of Bedford were intelligent as well 
as industrious, frugal and virtuous. They were so far enlightened as 
to understand the value of books, and they saw clearly that the rem- 
edy for individual inability to procure them, was such a combination 
of means and efforts as would render the united ability the property 
of each. 

Several such combinations were formed in New Bedford previous to 
the passage of the act conferring upon them corporate powers. 

The proprietors of Dobsou's Encyclopanlia were the earliest to form 
this social and profitable arrangement. For our unlearned and iso- 
lated people this work was a library in itself. Eagerly and thoroughly 
were its pages read aud consulted ; and the well-worn volumes, now 
in the Free Public Library, bear testimony to the Aict so creditable to 
the people of the village. 



APPENDIX. 115 

The Library Society followed. This was a more comprehensive ef- 
fort. The desire for boolis had outgrown the ability of Dobson to 
satisfy. New Bedford was fortunate in having among its people, men 
who could give a profitable direction to that intelligence which needed 
the assistance of books to supply its craving for gratification and in- 
crease. In this respect the young and prosperous community was fa- 
vored beyond the average, in that day, of villages whose population 
was mainly composed of toilers in the worlishop and upon the sea. 

The Social Library followed. This was a vigorous, well directed, 
and well managed association. The good sense of all recognized the 
wisdom of combination, and in the union there was found strength. 
The three associations were united, and the New Bedford Social Li- 
brary had a long, prosperous, and profitable career. Its collection of 
books was never large, never exceeding five thousand volumes ; but 
such was the care and intelligence bestowed upon their selection that 
it was well and truly said of it, that take those five thousand volumes 
out of it, the libraries of the world could not supply their place with 
other books as well adapted to the wants of such a community. 

When the passage of the State law allowed the proprietors to be- 
come a body corporate, advantage was taken of its provisions. For 
nearly half a century, this valuable collection of books was the 
principal source whence was supplied the desire of the people for 
knowledge and intellectual recreation. " Library-day " was always a 
welcome day. There was in attendance generally a large number of 
intelligent seekers; and the result of that intercourse with books for 
which this library provided was a marked and most promising and in- 
teresting feature in the characters of the young men and women of 
New Bedford. 

Thus speaks the poet of that early day, which to us of the present 
may seem the " day of small things " in the intellectual history of our 
city. 

I warm to thhik, as this bright sceue I scan, 

How it has ended, how it first began. 

Far from this crowd of manliood and of grace, 

I wander back o'er lialf a century's space. 

The little town, in sombre garb arrayed, 

Gleams still through flaunting fashion and parade; 

I see its fathers, pru<lent still, yet fain 

To grow in learning as they grow in gain. 

Happy for us, this simple truth they knew, 

That cash is good, but culture something too. 

All books Avere scarce; most books were somewhat dear, 

Yet how they sowed the far-brought treasure here ! 

True to their time, but truer to ourselves, 

Think how editions gathered on tlieir shelves ! 

'T was nobly done, to make the school-house free! 
A nobler school-house, fitly foumlod, see! 



116 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

Not that all lore ft-ora reading can be had, 
For too much reading sometimes makes us mad; 
But education, still a life-long friend, 
Goes on with life, witli that can only end. 

To join together all that makes refined 
The wisdom, art and fancy of mankind; 
To lend to all who hitlicr come to read 
The utmost help to meet their utmost need ; 
Wiiat ampler work couM ample fortune do. 
To self, to city, to the world more true 'i 
A hundred glorious gardens here we find ; 
Oh, culture still tliis garden of the mind ! 
Oil, i)lant and water, dear as wealth unbought. 
The flower of fancy and the oak of tliought!* 

It was an easy and natural step from the law granting corporate 
powers to social libraries, to that by which the towns and cities of 
the State were allowed to establish municipal libraries, and to raise 
by taxation the means for their purchase and support. 

That act had its origin in the fundamental principle, that the Stale 
should provide for the education of the people. Under the influence 
of this Harvard College had been established, and the public school 
system had become an integral part of the public polity. The act by 
which the several municipalities were allowed to establish free public 
libraries, had its origin in the idea that this State guardianship and 
legislation, to be perfected, should be complemented by a provision 
for the extension of the educational period into adult life. 

It was seen 

" That education, still a life-long friend. 
Goes on with life, with that can only end." 

The adult school and the free public library are both the oflspring 
of the educational policy of the Commonwealth founded by the Puri- 
tans. 

This intimate and complemental connection between the schools and 
the library was clearly apprehended and stated by the trustees of the 
New Bedford Free Public Library. Under this point, in their second 
annual report, they use the following language. 

" Our library has become one of the institutions of the city. 

"It has become a valuable, and will soon be considered as an indis- 
pensable auxiliary in the work of popular education. 

"It has become incorporated both in idea and in fact, into the cata- 
logue of subjects demanding the fostering care and annual support of 
the municipal government. 

"Its claims for such attention and support are founded upon princi- 
ples which lie at the foundation of our republican institutions. 

* Charles Tabcr Cougdon's poem at the laying of the corner stone of the Library 
Building. 



APPENDIX. 117 

" To traiu and enlighten the public mind is a work to which a liberal 
portion of the public wealth must be devoted ; and' as being in har- 
mony with this idea, and as the cap-stone of our system of public ed- 
ucation, the Public Library has claims upon all whose aim is the pro- 
motion of the general welfare. 

" Such was the theonj when the work was begun by the state and 
completed, by the city, — such is now the fact, demonstrated by our 
experience and placed beyond the reach of doubt or cavil." 

The Act to Authorize -Cities and Towks to establish and main- 
tain Public Libraries was passed by the General Court of Massa- 
chusetts, May 24, 185 1. 

The Ordinance for the Establishment and Government of a 
Free Public Library, in New Bedford, was passed August 16, 1852. 

The first movement in the undertaking was an unsuccessful one. It 
was made in the City Council July Sth, 1851, by Warren Ladd, then a 
member of the popular branch of that body. The order was only to 
consider the expediency of the measure. It passed the Common 
Council without a dissenting voice, but the Aldermen nonconcurred. 
It will be seen that this movement was but forty-Jive days after the 
passage of the enabling act. 

On the 27th of May, 1852, a large petition, headed by James B. 
Congdon, was presented to the Council. 

This movement originated with a society of young men, called the 
Union Debating Association. This society, at a meeting held April 
Gth, 1852, in connection with a preamble declaratory of the conviction 
that a free public library would be of great advantage to the young 
men of the city, passed the following resolution. 

" Hesolved, That this Association cause petitions to be circulated 
praying our municipal authorities to establish such an institution." 

The petition was referred to the Committee on Public Instruction, 
who reported on the 14th of June. They recommended an appropria- 
tion of fifteen hundred dollars for the establishment of the library. 

In their report, the committee attach great importance to the fact 
that they had been assured that " provided the authorities should, by 
the passage of the order making the appropriation asked for, establish 
the principle, that the maintenance of a free city library for the con- 
tinuous education of the people will be the settled polity of the city," 
the. /zee thousand volumes of the New Bedford Social Library would be 
transferred to the cit}^ 

Quoting the words of James B. Congdon, through whom this ofier 
of the proprietors of the library was made, they say, " Whh such a 
foundation to build upon, with the appropriation now prayed for to 
give it a position for immediate and extended usefulness, the library 
would open to our inhabitants the means of innocent enjoyment and 



118 CENTENNIAL CELEBEATION. 

of valuable acquisition, and be a source of commendable pride to our 
citizens." 

But the Free Public Library had, in fact, been established before the 
presentation of the report. The appropriation bill for the year which 
had already passed, contained an item oi ffteen hundred dollars for the 
library. Councilman Pitman,* who was a member of the committee to 
whom the petition was referred, had anticipated the favorable action 
of the council, and had introduced and carried an amendment to the 
bill making the appropriation as above stated. This amendment was 
made previous to the presentation of the report of the committee. 
The appropriation bill passed July 20, 1852. The date of the adoption 
of that amendment is the date of the establishment of the New Bedford 
Free ruhlic Libranj. 

The library was opened for the use of the people and the delivery 
of books on Thursday, the third day of March, 1853. 

The ordinance establishing the Boston Public Library was passed 
October 12th, 1852, and the doors were opened for the delivery of 
books on the 2d day of May, 185-1. 

The number of volumes at the opening was between five and six 
thousand. 

It is an interesting and creditable fact, that the New Bedford Free 
Public Library is the only public library established under the law of 
1851 excepting that in Boston, noticed by Edwards in his elaborate 
" Memoirs of Libraries " published in London in 1859. The following 
extract is from the second volume of that able work. After reciting 
the provisions of the law, the author proceeds as follows : 

"The first town to take action under this Statute was New Bedford, 
by whose Council a Free Public Library was established in August, 
1852. The proprietors of a Subscription, or 'Social Library' trans- 
ferred their collection to the new foundation, which was opened for 
public use on the 3d of March, 1853, with about GOOO volumes. This 
number has been, within about three years, increased to 9000; and in 
their fourth report, the Trustees are enabled to afilrm that ' it is un- 
doubtedly true that no Act of the municipal authorities of New Bed- 
ford has reached with its recreative an improving operation so large a 
part of our population, and probably none has ever met so universally 
and deeply the approbation of the people. A Free Public Library is 
the crowning glory of the system of public education, which has been 
from our earliest history the pride of Massachusetts.' In a Report of 
the preceding year there is a passage bearing on a point which is al- 
Avays interesting in connection with the present subject — that of the 
selection of books : ' While care has been taken,' say the Trustees, 
' that no publication injurious to the public morals should find a place 

*Hon. Robert C. Pitman, one of the .judfrcs of flic Siii)erior Court of the Com- 
monwealth. 



APPENDIX. 119 

upon our shelves, we have endeavored to divest ourselves, in our 
eflbrts to place before our fellow-citizens the means of a more exten- 
sive and genial culture, of all narrow and sectarian partialities. In 
this report we are gratified to be able to state that no difference of 
opinion has for a single moment interrupted the harmony and unanim- 
ity of our proceedings.' " 

The State law and the City ordinance under the authority and direc- 
tion of which our Free Public Library was established are models of 
comprehensive brevity. The one contains twenty and the other 
twenty-seven lines — about one printed page. The law gives the power 
to assess a tax for library purposes, and contains the following impor- 
tant provision. 

"Any town or city may receive in its corporate capacity, and hold 
and manage, any devise, bequest or donation, for the establishment, 
increase, or maintenance of a public library within the same." 

The ordinance provides for the election of trustees, and confers 
upon them all the powers necessary for the establishment and man- 
agement of the library. 

The number of trustees was originally six, three ex-officii and three 
at large, chosen annually. A change has been made by which the 
number at large is increased to six, two being chosen every year for 
three years. The ex-officii members of the board remain the same, — 
the Mayor, who is president, the President of the Common Council, 
and the Chairman of the Joint Standing Committee of the City Council 
on Public Instruction. 

Eobei't C. Ingraham was appointed librarian, and the library has had 
no other. At first he had no helper. It was soon found necessary to 
provide an assistant, and he now has two, both ladies. 

The Rules and Eegulations first established are contained in the first 
Report. They have been twice changed. Those now in force will be 
found in the twenty-second annual Report. In accordance with their 
provisions, a superintendent has been added to the ofticers of the 
library. 

Erom this starting point, it will be interesting to consider the his- 
tory and progress of the library, under the more important aspects in 
which they are presented in the reports and other publications. 

They may be arranged as follows : 

The books, their number, character, and rate of increase. 

The pamphlets and newspapers. 

The Library building. 

Donations : books, pamphlets, pictures. 

Trust funds. 

Reports. 

Dartmouth Centennial. 

Catalogues, bulletins, and advertisements. 



120 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

We liave seen that the library was opened with about six thousand 
volumes upon its shelves. Five thousand of these were from the So- 
cial Library. It is due to the memory of the enligliteued and consci- 
entious men who were active in the establishment and management of 
that library again to call attention to the high character of its collec- 
tion. To those upon whom it devolved to take charge of it after it 
had become the property of the city, this elevated character of the 
former managers and of the books which their scrupulous integrity and 
enlightened zeal had gathered were well known; and both the men 
and the books had an important influence in the right direction in the 
selection of the additions the trustees were called upon to make. 

The six thousand volumes have, in the twenty-three years which 
have elapsed since the opening of the library, increased to thirty-four 
thousand, an average increase of a little more than twelve hundred 
volumes annually. 

It is not within the scope of this brief notice of the institution, to 
enter into such an examination of the works which are found upon its 
catalogue as will enable the reader to obtain a very decided idea of its 
• distinctive character or relative position. 

Its managers have always kept in view the fact, that a public library 
must be a popular library ; and one result of a steady regard to this 
idea has been, that with the exception of two or three hundred vol- 
umes the books are all in the English language. This fact should be 
considered in connection with that of the number of volumes it con- 
tains. 

The managers have not felt at liberty to apply the means at their 
disposal to the purchase of costly publications, — costly because rare, 
or because of the expensive character of their binding, illustration, or 
ornamentation. The library is not without many such productions, 
but they have been obtained mainly by the direct or indirect agency of 
its benefactors. 

In natural history and periodical literature it is distinctively rich; 
and it has been, from the beginning, the aim of the managers to de- 
vote a liberal share of their means to the collection of such works as 
are valuable to the artist and the artisan in tlie attainment and practice 
of their respective occupations. 

One room is devoted to the public documents of the state and na- 
tion, in which the collection, although not perfect, is very full. 

The voluminous issues of the Patent Office are all upon the shelves. 

The publications of the Smithsonian Institution are all to be found 
there. 

The series of the London Art Journal complete, with a large number 
of illustrated works devoted to a description of art, ancient, mediieval, 
and modern, give evidence that the managers have recognized and 
acted upon the fact of the educational and elevating influence of the 



APPENDIX. 121 

beautiful. The income of oue of the funds for the increase of the library 
has been wholly devoted to the purchase of this class of publications. 

The number of pamphlets is about eight thousand. Most of them 
are arranged according to their subjects, so as to be conveniently con- 
sulted. Trom the opening of the library, constant eflbrts have been 
made to collect and arrange the publications of a local character. The 
publications of the municipal government, both town and city, are 
complete. 

The library does not possess an extensive collection of nev?spapers. 
Most of those it holds are of a local publication, and some of them are 
complete and very valuable. 

The New Bedford Mercury was first published in 1807, only twenty 
years after the incorporation of the town, and is still issued. Eighti/- 
six bound volumes of this valuable publication were presented by Ben- 
jamin Lindsey, who was its publisher from 1831 to 18G2. For nine- 
teen years it was published by his father, and five years by the father 
and son. The issues since Mr. Lindsey's liberal donation have been 
added. 

To Mr. Lindsey the library is also indebted for a volume of the 
Christian Philanthropist, a weekly paper published in New Bedford 
about half a century ago, containing all the numbers. 

The Daily Evening Standard, a valuable and successful newspaper, 
is among the highly prized possessions of the library. In 1862, eleven 
bound volumes Avere presented to the institution by its publishei', 
Edmund Anthony. It was established by him in 18j0, and all the 
issues are now to be found in the library. 

The beautiful building now occupied by the New Bedford Free Pub- 
lic Library was erected in 1856-7. Its cost was about forty thousand 
dollars. It is built of brick, with granite underpinning and steps and 
free-stone ornaments. A view of the building accompanies this vol- 
ume.* 

The corner stone of the Free Public Library building was laid on 
the 28th of August, 185G. The published account of the simple but 
interesting ceremonial makes a part of the collection to which this 
brief sketch is an introduction. 

The principal exercises were an introductory address by George 
Rowland, Jr., Mayor of the City, an address by James B. Congdon, 
and a poem by Charles T. Congdon of New York. 

In the address of Mr. Congdon, as well as in several of the annual 
reports, the positions are assumed that the Free Public Library of 
New Bedford was the first established by order or ordinance under 
the law of 1851 ; the first from which books wex-e issued under said 

* The volume of i-eports- 

r 



122 CKNTKNNIAL CELKHKATION. 

liiw; tliat Mk; Lihrary Hiiildiii;^ \v:is the second \vliose construction 
WHS coinmcuced iil'wv its passiij^c ; anil that prior to its ostahlishnicnt 
and the delivery of hooks thcrcrroui, there had never existed a lil)rary 
estal)lished and wholly supported and managed by a niuni(;ipality, free 
to all tiie iniiahitanls, its l)ool<s for the use, at the library or at home, 
of all the people without payment or pledjic. 

Mr. (^ong<lon in his address briuj^s vividly forward the men who had 
hffu active in the earlier efforts to secure to the people the benefits 
of a library, and makes honorable mention of those whose intelligent 
activity had been crowned by the establishment by tiie city of the New 
JJedford Free rublic Library. 

'i'he author of the poem had been a New Bedford boy, and was able 
to ,nive a very lively deserijition of tiie prominent features of tiie old 
Social Lil)rar3'. 

In the appendix to the " l'roceedin;j,s," and in the notes to Mr. Conjj;- 
don's address, there will be found a larye amount of valuable infor- 
mation, aiul interesting contril)utions to the local history of New 
JU'dforil. 

Of the Library Building the upper rooms only are occupied by the 
library. The principal room is ueat and tasteful in its architectural 
features and convenient in its arrangements. It has two tiers of al- 
coves, one on the tloor, and one on the gallery which is carried around 
tiie whole room excepting on the north end where tlie stairs lead to it. 
An iron railing diviili's the alcoves from the visitors. Heading desks 
outside the railing contain the periodicals, which are accessible to all; 
and seated at these desks the visitors are, in addition to these, fur- 
nished with any books they may wish to consult. The delivery is at 
a table at the north end. A stand for newspapers occupies a central 
position in the room. Six other rooms are occupied for library pur- 
poses, four for books, one for tlie trustees, and one for the convenience 
of the librarian and his assistants. 

The library has had a growth tinexpecli'dly rniiid, and at this time 
the want of more room is severely felt. The want will i)robably be 
supplied by removing the public ollices and giving the library the 
wliole building, or by enlarging it. 

The reports all contain lists of the yearly donations of books, pam- 
phlets, and newspapers, and care has always been taken to notice 
these accessions and express the obligations of the trustees to their 
numerous benefactors. 

Nearly the whole collection of pamphlets and newspapers are dona- 
tions. 

The contributions of books amount at this time to not less than two 
thousand volumes. 

The most valuable upon the list is a perfect copy of Audubon's Birds 



APPENDIX. 123 

of America. This was the gift of James Arnold. Mr. Arnold and 
family contributed many other valuable publications. 

Audubon's Quadrupeds was contributed by the family of Andrew 
Eobeson. 

The care taken to give every donation, whatever its character, its 
proper place for useful and convenient reference, has led to the pres- 
ervation and presentation of much reading matter which formerly 
found its way into the paper-mills. 

Under the head of donations it may be well to notice the few pic- 
tures which are found in the library. A landscape by William Allen 
Wall, an engraving of Bierstadt's celebrated painting of the Kocky 
Mountains, and a chromo of Bradford's "Wrecked Sealer," are the 
principal pictures other than the portraits. Two of the portraits are 
in the main library room, one of George Rowland, Junior, by Wilson, 
the other of James B. Congdon, by Eaton. The first named was exe- 
cuted by order of the City Council of New Bedford; the other was a 
contribution by a large number of the citizens, friends of Mr. Congdon. 
These portraits are full length and full size, and occupy the north and 
south ends of the libraryrroom respectivel}'. 

The other portraits are hung in the trustees' room, to which they 
constitute appropriate and cherished ornaments. 

A rude unfinished portrait of William Rotch, by an artist by the 
name of Hinkley, is a sufllciently correct delineation of the benevolent 
and expressive features of that great and good man to render it val- 
uable in the absence of any other. 

The portraits of James Arnold, Charles W. Morgan, and Thomas A. 
Greene, are all by Wdliam A. Wall. The memory of these men, who 
have long been numbered with the departed, will ever be cherished in 
the community which was for a long series of years made better and 
happier by their presence. An engraved portrait of Captain Rowland 
R. Crocker is highly valued. A glance at the index which accompanies 
this volume, will show that the names of all these men have had hon- 
orable mention in the publications of the trustees of the library. 

The Trust Funds established for the benefit of the library are three. 

The first upon the list is the George Howi.and Juniou Fund. 

Its amount is the sum of two years' salary of George Howlaud, 
Junior, as mayor, sixteen hundred dollars. Mr. Howlaud, in his note 
accompanying the donation, expressed the wish that the income might 
be expended for such works as, from their more expensive character, 
the trustees might not feel justified in purchasing from the limited 
city appropriation. The condition has been strictly complied with ; 
and many rare and valuable books are now the property of the library 
by reason of this timely and liberal benefaction. 

Under the will of Charles W. Morgan, there was paid to the city by 



124 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

"William J. Rotch, his executor, the sura of one thousand dollars, 
which constitutes the Charles W. Morgan Fund. The income of 
this fund has generally been expended in the manner described in the 
preceding: notice. This bequest, with countless other acts of intelli- 
gent and warm-hearted benevolence with which the life of this gentle- 
man was crowned, has endeared his memory to the hearts of all the 
inhabitants of the city. 

Under the will of Sylvia Ann Howland, the city of New Bedford was 
paid the sum of one hundred thousand dollars. The testament of this 
excellent lady contained the following interesting item. 

" I give and bequeath to the city of New Bedford the sum of one 
hundred thousand dollars; and direct that this sum shall be invested 
judiciously, under the direction of the City Council, and the income 
therefrom shall be expended and used for the promotion and support 
within the city of liberal education, and the enlargement, from time to 
time, of the Tree Public Library." 

With the utmost care and deliberation, by the aid of many of the 
wisest and best minds of our city, an ordinance was framed and 
adopted by the City Council to carry into effect the provisions of this 
munificent bequest. 

In the twentieth report of the trustees of the library all the proceed- 
ings connected with the enactment of this important ordinance are 
fully set forth, and in various other reports will be found notices and 
statements connected with its history and administration. 

Of this bequest, fifty thousand dollars were set apart for the library, 
and constituted the Sylvia Ann Hoavland Free Public Library 
Fund. Its income is now the chief dependence of the trustees for 
the "enlargement" of the library, as the appropriation by the city 
barely suflices for the salaries and other expenses of the institution. 

During the delay which attended the litigation upon the will of the 
deceased, the funds of the estate largely increased, and in addition to 
the bequest of fifty thousand dollars which constitutes the fund, about 
ten thousand dollars was paid into the treasury of the city as interest 
or income and placed to the credit of the library. 

Under the direction of the trustees of the library a plain white 
marble tablet commemorating this noble act was placed in the princi- 
pal room of the institution, which is thus described on the twelfth 
page of the twenty-second report. 

" It is surrounded by a frame of tasteful design and of perfect exe- 
cution. The whole, both in plan and performance, including the site 
selected for its erection, is one which commends itself to the good 
sense, the feelings of propriety, and the grateful emotions of the peo- 
ple of New Bedford. The inscription upon the tablet is as follows : 
' This tablet commemorates the enlightened liberality of Sylvia Ann 
IIoAvland, who bestowed upon the city of New Bedford the sum of 



APPENDIX. 125 

two hundred thousand dollars : one hundred thousand dollars to aid in 
supplying the city with pure water; and one hundred thousand as a 
fund for the promotion of liberal education by the enlargement of the 
Free Public Library, and by extending to the children and youth of 
the city the means of a wider and more generous culture.' " 

It will be seen by this inscription that the whole amount bequeathed 
to the city of New Bedford by this lady was two hundred thousand 
dollars. One half the sum was applied to the construction of the New 
Bedford Water Works ; the other was equally divided, forming the 
library and educational funds. 

The amount of the several trust funds established for the benefit of 
the Free Public Library, which have been severally noticed, is fifty- 
two thousand six hundred dollars. 

The annual income is three thousand one hundred and fifty-six dol- 
lars. 

This income is a vital element in the existence of the library. We 
have seen that the ordinai'y annual appropriation is necessarily ab- 
sorbed by the expenses of management. It is therefore mainly upon 
the income of the permanent funds that the trustees depend for the 
supply of books and periodicals, and for the constant renovation which 
the active use of the books renders necessary. 

The simplicitj^ convenience and effectiveness of the method by 
which these trust funds are managed, commends it to the approval of 
every one by whom it has been carefully examined, and has received 
the sanction of the judicial authority of the Commonwealth. 

The city is the trustee. No judicial act was necessary to establish 
this trusteeship. 

The trust was created by the receipt of the money. The ordinance 
recognizes the trust obligations, fixes the rate of income, and regu- 
lates the management. The trustees of the Free Public Library are 
by the ordinance the agents of the trustee, which is the city. They 
are held to a rigid conformity to the conditions of the bequest and the 
requisitions of the ordinance. The routine by which the agents are 
held to a faithful performance of the trust committed to them, and by 
which the city authorities are constantly informed, even to the minutest 
details, of the proceedings of the board of trustees, is a model of 
order and efficiency. 

Should a judicial inquiry at anytime be thought desirable, the re- 
ports of the trustees of the library would furnish all the needful evi- 
dence as to the manner in which the trust has been administered. 

It should be remembered that one ordinance regulates the adminis- 
tration both of the library and educational funds. In the case of the 
latter, the agency is placed with the school committee. They are held 
to the same careful administration, and subject to the same severe 
scrutiny as the library board. 



126 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

The annual Reports of the board of trustees are twenty-four in 
number. These reports, with the " Corner Stone Proceedings," con- 
stitute the volume to which this brief introduction is attached. They 
make an aggregate of seven hundred pages. As eighteen of the whole 
number were prepared by the same hand, the general principles of 
management are made prominent thi'oughout the series, and the ciiar- 
acter of the facts stated and the methods of arrangement will be found 
to be harmonious. The annals of but few public institutions have 
been for so long a period so faithfully presented. They are ''short" 
and they are " simple," but they contain a large amount of valu- 
ble information, practical suggestion, and interesting local history. 
Through them the citizens of New Bedford have had spread before 
them the operation and condition of their favorite institution, and in 
this way their fiiith in its value has been sustained and strengthened, 
and their zeal on its behalf kept alive and increased. 

As the New Bedford public library was the pioneer undertaking, its 
reports have been widely distributed over the country, and have been 
found very useful in guiding the eflbrts of those who have been en- 
gaged in the establishment of similar institutions. The encourage- 
ment of our success and the aid extended by our methods have in 
many cases done much towards insuring a favorable result to the pub- 
lic library movements in various parts of the country. 

A novel but in one view a highly valuable feature of these reports, 
is the brief biographical notices that are to be found in the series. 
The necrology of the Free Public Library Reports contain many no- 
tices of the prominent citizens of New Bedford, whose intelligence, 
integrity, enterprise and benevolence, have endeared their memories 
to the people and constituted them stirring and influential examples 
of true Christian manliness of character. 

The brief memoirs of Thomas A. Greene, James Arnold, Thomas 
Mandell, Henry H. Crapo, and others, are not only pleasant and tender 
ofl'erings to the memory of departed worth, but are pregnant with rich 
lessons for inciting the young into the paths of wisdom and an hon- 
orable distinction, and for their guidance and protection. 

We hope that this interesting and valuable feature of these reports 
will be retained; and that these " discourses of the dead " will not be 
restricted to those who may have been connected with the library. 
Let a niche be found for all who, like those whose names have already 
had honorable mention, shall have left behind them a i-ecord, the pe- 
rusal of which shall revive pleasant memories and prompt to noble 
deeds. 

The celebration of the Old Dartmouth Centennial in 186-i was an 
event, an account of which may here have a brief mention. Its in- 



APPENDIX. 127 

ception was with the trustees of the library, and its arrangements and 
success Avere largely the result of their action and efficient cooperation. 

The fullness of the report that was made of the proceedings on the 
occasion, renders unnecessary any extended notice. 

The celebration took place on the 14th of September. Two hun- 
dred years before, the old town of Dartmouth received from the Gen- 
eral Court at Plymouth its municipal charter. The then new town 
covered the territory which now includes the towns of Dartmouth, 
Westport, Fairhaven, and Acushnet, and the city of New Bedford. 
The municipal authorities of all these places united in the celebration, 
and numbers of the people of them were present at the exercises. 

A few years after the incorporation of the town, and as early as any 
written record of its public proceedings bears date, King Philip's war 
laid desolate the new-born municipality. At the close of the first cen- 
tury another desolating war was i-aging; and, fired by the torches of 
General Grey's red-coated regulars, who in their lust for liquor and 
appetite for destruction rivalled the exploits of the red men of Meta- 
com, the thriving village of Bedford and seventy sail of vessels in 
its harbor became a prey to the flames. Another century passes, and 
when in 1804, on the arrival of the second centennial period, the peo- 
ple were called together that it might receive an appropriate commem- 
oration, another war, more mournful in its incidents and results than 
those in which the red men and the red-coats had participated, was 
desolating the land. 

These striking centennial coincidents were used with good eflect by 
the orator and poet, the Honorable William W. Crapo, now member 
of Congress, and James B. Congdon. The address of Mr. Crapo is a 
model in its selections, its arrangement, and its pure and eloquent 
diction. In addition to the incidents of which we have spoken, the 
speaker presents, in a just and forcible manner, the history of the 
controversy between the town of Dartmouth and the Plymouth au- 
thorities in relation to the support of an Orthodox ministry. The 
conflict was-long and bitter, culminating, on this side of the water, in 
the imprisonment by the Province Rulers of the selectmen who had 
refused to obey the mandate of the Court. But the Baptists and 
Quakers of Dartmouth and Tiverton triumphed. An order of the 
King in council set the prisoners free and nullified the tax. 

The poem of Mr. Congdon presents in a simple but pleasing manner 
the three centennial epochs. The presence of Major Andre at the raid 
upon Bedford, as a member of the staft' of General Grey, is an incident 
which the writer has used with good eflect. 

The account of the " Old l^artmouth Centennial, September 14, 
1864," makes a volume of one hundred and thirty pages. It contains 
much matter of local and permanent interest beside that of which we 



128 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

have made mention. We have space for the mention of two only of 
the many items of this vahiable compilation. 

The address of Governor Cliflbrd, who was present in the donble 
capacity of citizen and representative of the Massachusetts Historical 
Society, possesses at this time a peculiar interest as being the last 
ever made by him at a public meeting of his fellow-citizens. Often in 
that hall and from that platform had he spoken, with a felicity of dic- 
tion, a grace of manner, and power of expression seldom equalled in 
our state or country. But he never came nearer to the hearts of our 
people than he did on this occasion, when, with that beauty of speech 
and that ease and grace of manner so peculiarly his own, he spoke of 
the noticeable incidents of our local history. We have never forgot- 
ten, and we love now more than ever to remember, the outburst of 
applause which followed this delightful cflbrt of impromptu oratory. 

The old Borough of Dartmouth, England, the fishing community at 
the mouth of the Dart, gave onr old Dartmouth its name. Many in- 
cidents connected with its name and history made this ancient borough, 
whose franchise dates back to the reign of Richard Cceur de Leon, 
closely associated with the commemorative exercises. 

An address "To the Mayor, Recorder and Aldermen of the City of 
Dartmouth, County of Devon, England," had been prepared, and was 
read to the meeting. Having been signed by the Mayor, Aldermen, 
Common Councilmen, and Clerk of the city of New Bedford, and by 
the Selectmen and Town Clerks of the towns uniting in the celebra- 
tion, and beautifully engrossed, it was sent to its destination. 

The time required by its engrossment, and to obtain the large num- 
ber of necessary signatures of persons dwelling widely apart, brought 
the end of the year before it could be forwarded. 

It was not until Washington's Birthday, ISGG, that the Mayor of 
the city received a response to this greeting from the old Dartmouth 
of America to the old Dartmouth of Great Britain. But when it Avas 
received the delay was not cared for or thought of. The reply was 
dated on the "Fourth of July," 1865, was signed by the Mayor, Re- 
corder, Clerk, and Burgesses of the Borough of Clifton Dartmouth 
Hardness, in the County of Devon, England. One of the councillors 
bears the significant name of John Bully. It is a well written docu- 
ment, and its tone is kind and manly. In these respects it fully met 
the circumstances of the occasion and the wishes and expectations of 
those to whose greeting it was an answer. But the form in which it 
appeared was a surprise and a delight. Its elegant chirography upon 
vellum is a picture in itself; and this, with its beautiful illuminations 
of border and other chaste ornamentation, give the whole a rare, rich, 
and attractive appearance. 

The seal of the city, -which occupies a central position upon the 
parchment, and is one of its chief ornaments, tells most significantly 



APPENDIX. 129 

the story that Richard I of England conferred the franchise upon 
the borough. Eichard's fleet made a rendezvous in the harbor of Dart- 
mouth as he was about to embark upon his crusade to the Holy Land. 
Upon the seal, Richard's ship rests upon the waters, and the King with 
crown and sceptre is the occupant. Two stars, one on each side of 
the King, may be emblems of the two mighty men who were about to 
contend for the possession of the Holy Sepulchre or of their respective 
faiths. 

Such a missive called for a fitting frame. Our neighbors of Dart- 
mouth provided a log of well seasoned and finely grained white-oak, 
and the taste of a New Bedford artist and artisan wrought fi'om it a 
frame in no way unworthy of this beautiful production of our trans- 
atlantic brethren. It hangs in the trustees' room of the library, and 
forms its most attractive ornament. All the documents connected 
with this pleasant and interesting interchange of courtesies will be 
found in the fifteenth annual Report. 

The Catalogue, which embraces all the books of the librarj^ up to 
March, 1874, is in three volumes. The last, which is the second Sup- 
plement, has just been published. The first was printed in ISoS, and 
contains 355 pages; the first Supplement in 18G9, 315. The second 
Supplement just printed has 472, making in all eleven hundred and 
forty-two pages. 

The labor of preparing these volumes and carrying them through 
the press has all been performed by the accomplished librarian, Robert 
C. Ingraham. They constitute a monument of his zeal, intelligence, 
and industry. 

Since January, 1874, eight Quarterly Bulletins have been published, 
which embrace all the books added to the library from that date to 
December, 1875. These will be continued. In addition to this, as 
often as a sufficient number of books is purchased, generally once a 
month, they are advertised, by a brief title, in the daily newspapers. 

The following summary statement, which was prepared for publica- 
tion before the preceding pages were written, will furnish an appro- 
priate close to our brief history of the New Bedford Free Public 
Library. 

NEW BEDFORD FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 

Established by City Council August 9th, 1852, under the law of the 
Commonwealth enacted May 24th, 1851. 

Opened for the delivery of books March 3d, 1853. 

Free to all inhabitants of the city. 

Number of volumes when opened, ^ 5,200 

Of Social Library, 5,000 

Purchased, 200 

Q 



130 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

Library building erected by the city 1856, at a cost of . . . $40,000 

Annual expenditure, $7,000 

Annual appropriations by the city, and expenses paid by same, 3,844 

Income from trust funds, 3,156 

The income from trust funds is all expended for books. 

Catalogue, 1st vol., 1858; 2d, 1869; 3d, 1876. Quarterly Bulletins 
of accessions from January 1st, 1874. Accessions published in two 
newspapers. 

Number of volumes, January 1, 1876, .... < 83,000 

All in the English language but about 200 

Number of pamphlets, 6,000 

Number of periodicals, 100 

Number of newspapers, 18 

Volumes taken from the library in 1875, 55,771 

Officers : 
Nine trustees, three ex-officii ; six chosen by City Council, each for 

three years. 
Superintendent. 

Librarian, salary, $2,000 

Two assistant librarians, (female,) salary of each 400 

Open, Sundays and legal holidays excepted, every day, from 9 
o'clock A. M. to 9 o'clock p. m., with one interval of two hours and one 
of 07ie hour. 



XXIII. 

NEW BEDFORD IN THE WAR. 

[From "History of Massachusetts in the Civil War," by William 
Schouler, late Adjutant-General of the Commonwealth. 
This article was written by a citizen of New Bedford.] 

New Bedford. — Incorporated as a town Feb. 23, 1787; as a city, 
March 9, 1847. Population in 18C0, 22,300; in 1865, 20,863. Valuation 
in 1860, $24,196,138; in 1865, $20,525,790.* 

* This great diminution in valuation was the effect of the war upon the Avhaling 
interest. 



APPENDIX. 131 

In 1861, Isaac C. Taber, mayor; Warren Ladd, James L. Humphrey, 
Nathan Lewis, John P. Barker, Matthew Howlaud, William H. Key- 
nard, aldermen. 

In 18G2, Isaac C. Taber, mayor; Warren Ladd, Bethuel Penniman, 
Jr., Nathan Lewis, John P. Barker, Matthew Rowland, William H. 
Reynard, aldermen. 

In 18G3, George Howlaud, Jr., mayor; Warren Ladd, George G. Gif- 
ford, Ambrose Vincent, John P. Barker, Matthew Howland, John H. 
Perry, aldermen. 

In 1864, George Howland, Jr., mayor; Warren Ladd, George G. Gif- 
ford, Ambrose Vincent, John P. Barker, Matthew Howland, John H. 
Perry, aldermen. 

In 1865, George Howland, Jr., mayor; Warren Ladd, George G. Gif- 
ford, Joseph Kuowles, George F. Kingman, Matthew Howlaud, John 
H. Perry, aldermen. 

The city clerk in 1861 and 1862 was Sauford S. Horton; in 1863, 
1864:, and 1865, Henry T. Leonard. The city treasurer during all the 
years of the war was James B. Congdon. 

1861, April 19th. Five thousand dollars was appropriated for the 
benefit of the " City Guards," to be expended under the direction of 
the mayor and a committee of the city council. Ten thousand were 
appropriated for the formation of a Home and Coast Guard. [See 
Thomas R. Rodman.] The American flag was ordered to be displayed 
from the City Hall until otherwise ordered. 

July 15th. A report was received, showing that Fort Phoenix in 
Fairhaven, and Fort Taber in New Bedford, mounting eleven guns, 
had been manned by the Home Guard, and recommending an additional 
appropriation to maintain the same ; and on the 29th of July five thou- 
sand dollars was appropriated. 

September 5th. The mayor was authorized to organize one or more 
companies " for the national army," the bounty to each member not 
to exceed fifteen dollars. 

November 20th. Fifteen hundred dollars was appropriated for State 
aid to soldiers' families. 

December 15th. Five thousand dollars was appropriated for the 
payment of soldiers' bounties. 

1862, January 3d. A report was made that three companies of vol- 
unteers for three years' military service had been organized. 

January 4th. This being the close of the municipal year, a report 
and resolution complimentary of the outgoing mayor, Hon. Isaac C. 
Taber, were unanimously adopted. 

July 10th. Seven thousand five hundred dollars was appropriated 
to establish a General Hospital for sick and wounded soldiers, pro- 
vided the General Government should "decide to locate one in this 
city." 



132 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

Voted, To pay a bounty of one hundred dollars to each volunteer 
who enlists for three years' military service, to the credit of the city. 
Twenty-six thousand dollars was appropriated to pay the same. The 
use of the spacious City Alms House, capable of accommodating three 
hundred sick and wounded soldiers, was offered to the General Gov- 
ernment, which ofler was respectfully declined. 

August 18th. The bounty to volunteers was increased to two hun- 
dred and fifty dollars ; and twenty thousand dollars was appropriated 
to pay the same. 

August 29th. Voted, To pay a bounty of two hundred dollars to 
each volunteer for nine months' service. Twenty-five thousand dol- 
lars was appropriated to pay said bounties. 

October 21st. A further appropriation of five thousand dollars was 
made for the Home and Coast Guard, and twenty thousand for military 
bounties, Avhich, on the 13th of December, was increased by a loan of 
twenty-six thousand dollars. 

1863, February 2Gth. The city council adjourned "for the purpose of 
paying their respects to Governor Andrew and General Wool at the 
city hall." 

March 4th. State aid was directed to be paid to the families " of col- 
ored citizens who shall be mustered into the service of the United 
States." 

April 9lh. Two hundred dollars was authorized to be expended on 
the enlistment of a company of heavy artillery, which, on the 21st of 
May, was increased to one thousand dollars. 

July 15th. " A watchman was discharged for using seditious lan- 
guage." 

July 30th. State aid was directed to be paid to the families of 
drafted men. " Ordered, That the bell be rung and a salute fired on 
the day of the Public Thanksgiving on the 6th of August." 

September 21st. The treasurer was directed to pay the treasurer 
of the Commonwealth $15,450.68, " under the laws in relation to the 
reimbursement of bounties." 

1864, November 17th. Voted, That the full taxes of the returned 
soldiers belonging to New Bedford be remitted. 

1865, January 7th. Appropriate resolutions were passed in regard 
to the death of Hon. Edward Everett, and ex-Gov. John H. Cliflbrd 
was invited to deliver a eulogy on the life and character of the de- 
ceased. 

February 7th. The mayor recommended the ringing of the bells 
and the firing of one hundred guns in honor of President Lincoln 
signing the emancipation proclamation. 

April 10th. A committee was appointed to make arrangements to 
celebrate the fall of Richmond and the surrender of General Lee. 

April 15th. A message was received from the mayor making an 



APPENDIX. 133 

official announcement of the death of President Lincoln, and a com- 
mittee was appointed to consider and report upon the proper measures 
to be taken in regard to it. The committee reported a series of appro- 
priate resolutions, which were adopted.* 

June 22. Alderman Giflford presented to the council a rebel flag 
captured at Charleston, S. C, Feb. ISth, I8G0, and sent to him by 
Captain James W. Grace, of Company C, Fifty-fourth Regiment Mas- 
sachusetts Volunteers (colored.) 

New Bedford furnished about ihirtij-tioo Inindred men for the war, 
which was a surplus of eleven huudred and ten men over and above all 
demands. t 

One hundred and twenty were officers in the military service. We 
do not know the number who served in the navy. The whole amount 
of money appropriated and expended on account of the war,"exclusive 
of State aid, was one hundred and seventy-seven thousand dollars. 

The amount of money appropriated and expended by the city during 
the four years of the war for State aid to the families of volunteers, 
and which was afterwards refunded by the Commouwealth, was as 

* The following are the proceedings of the City Council on the occasion of the death 
of President Lincoln. As far as is Isnown, the resolutions which follow were the 
first adopted by any municipal body in relation to that mournful event. 

In CoMMrrxKE, April 15th, 18(;5. 
The committee appointed to consider of and report what action it will be proper 
for the Council to take in relation to the communication of the Mayor presenteil at 
this time, have attended to the duty assigned them, and ask leave "to report the ac- 
companying Preamble and Resolutions. 

For the committee. 

WARREX LADD, Chairman. 

Whereas, It has been permitted in the workings of a mysterious Providence, 
that Alii-aham Lincoln, the President of the United States, should fall by the hand of 
an assassin ; and 

WiiEKEAS, The murderer's dagger has struck down William H. Seward, the Sec- 
retary of State, next to tho-President tlie most exalted and important officer of the 
Government, and we are prepared at any moment to hear that he is no more : there- 
fore. 

Resolved, Tliat an agony of sorrow that finds no relief but in the deep conviction 
that the Lord Ciod Almighty livelh and reigneth, and that he is still the refuge and 
supi)<)rt of his people, has taken possession of our souls and bows us down to the 
dust with its awful and overwhelming reality. 

L'r.-iolred, Tliat in view of the exalted virtues and eminent public services of 
Abraham Lincoln, his wisdom, liis firnincss, his unassuming piety and unswerving 
adhci-ence to the gi-eat prini'ipk's of universMi lilierty; tlie masterly statesmansliip 
and ins|iiring confidence whi<'li he has t'xliibitcd during the learlul sti-uggle in wliich 
our counti-y has been engaged, and wliicli w itii tlie help of God and a tlevoted people 
he had brought so near to a triuniplial Icrinination; we deplore with intensity of 
emotion, which finds no language Inr its ade(iuate expression, the loss of this great 
and good man, of this faithful and devoted pulilic servant. 

Resolved, That while we bow submissively before the Sovereign Disposer of 
events and seek with this great calamity upon us for the consolation which flows 
from the conviction that " he doeth all things well"; while we weep manly tears at 
the loss of our greatest )>ublic lienelactor, of our dearly l>eloved and venerated chief 
magistrate, ancTare deeply apprehensive that soon the" tidings will reach us that the 
gifted and I'aitliful Seward has shared his fate; we will nerve our hearts and our 
hands to meet the crisis this awful event has brought upon our counti'y, and the per- 
fin-niance of the high and solemn duties wliich as men and as citizens of the United 
States now devolve upon us. 

t This large surplus was mainly owing to the act of Congress passed July, 1864, 
allowing credits for men serving in the United States Navy. 



134 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

follows: lu 1861, $5,091.52; in 18G2, $25,257.29; in 18G3, $40,146.04; 
in 18G4, $36,500; in 1865, $18,500. Total amount in four years, $125,- 
495.85. 

The Ladies' Soldiers' Relief Society donated for tlie relief of the 
soldiers upwards of twenty thousand dollars in money; iu cotton 
cloth and flannel, four thousand dollars ; and in hospital stores to the 
value of six thousand dollars. The following are some of the articles 
contributed : Condensed milk, preserved fruits, jellies and pickles, 
farina, maizeua, tamarinds, lemons, dried apples, tea, coflee, cocoa; 
1116 bottles of wine, consisting of sherry, currant, blackberry, and 
native wines; 423 bottles of brandy ; 1130 bottles of blackberry braudy 
and syrups; 345 bottles of Port wine; large contributions for the 
Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas trees at Portsmouth Grove Hos- 
pital, besides bushels of lint and bandages. "The Society for the 
Comfort and Eelief of our Soldiers iu Hospitals " furnished, among 
other things, 5904 flannel shirts, 3887 pairs of drawers, 4573 woollen 
socks, 1790 towels, 94 coats, 76 vests, 120 collars, 1000 handkerchiefs, 
368 cravats, 314 dressing-gowns, 1836 pocket-handkerchiefs, 300 pants, 
148 napkins, 678 pairs slippers, 265 woollen mittens, 542 blankets, 515 
sheets, 673 pillows, 750 quilts, 988 canes, 1280 woollen undershirts, &c. 

The contributions named above are certainly remarkable, but we 
have to add that the ladies of New Bedford began early in the war. 
They held a meeting on the 18th of April, 1861, and organized for the 
work. Mi's. Joseph C. Delano Avas chosen president, Mrs. Lawrence 
Grinnell vice-president, and Mrs. William Eddy secretary and treas- 
urer. In addition to the above contributions, five hundred dollars 
were given by a lady to pay soldiers' wives for sewing. They also 
sent contributions to the St. Louis and Baltimore Soldiers' Fairs, and 
furnished tables at the New York and Boston Fairs. 



APPENDIX. 13^ 

XXIV. 

SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' MONUMENT. 

The monument erected by the city of New Bedford in memory of 
her citizens who perished in the rebellion occupies a prominent situ- 
ation upon the common. 

It is a beautiful and appropriate structure. Of the many erections 
of this character that the gratitude of the living has raised to com- 
memorate the patriotism of the dead, few can be found more taste- 
ful and appropriate in design, or more perfect in execution. 

The monument was designed and contracted for by George J^. 
Meacham, of Boston. 

The inscriptions upon the base are as follows : 

NORTH SIDE. 

Navy. 

EAST SIDE. 

Erected bv the City of New Beilfonl, as a tribute of gratitude to her sons who fell 
defending their Counti-y in its struggle with Slaveiy and Treason. 

SOUTH SIDE. 

Anny. 

WEST SIDE. 

Dedicated July 4th, 1866. 

The citizens will be interested in the following report of the com- 
mittee Of the City Council charged with the erection of the monu- 
ment. 

"Citg of TS'tfaj iSciforli. 

"In Committee, Jan. 5th, 1867. 
" The Joint Special Committee to whom was intrusted the duty of 
superintending the completion of the monument contracted for by the 
last city government, beg leave to submit the following 

REPORT. 

"The corner stone was laid on the 4th of July last, but the work 
was delayed longer than was anticipated, owing to the difficulties ex- 
perienced in quarrying suitable stone, and the slow and tedious process 
of cutting the inscriptions. Subsequently, upon notice from the con- 
tractor, in conformity with the provisions of the contract, your com- 
mittee inspected the work at the yard of Mr. Sheldon, the sub-con- 
tractor, at Concord, N. H., and approved the character and quality of 
the work so far as it was then completed. The stone is of the finest 
Concord granite, free from the presence of particles of iron, while the 
charrrcter of the work is much superior to that contracted for and sur- 
passing our expectations. Aside from the delay in the work, your 
committee are fully satisfied with the performance of the contract. 



130 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

" The laying of the corner stone presented a favorable opportunity 
for transmitting to posterit}^ in the least perishable form the facts of 
interest connected with the history of the monument, and the names 
and portraits of some of those who have become distinguished during 
the war, together with the names of those of our citizens who have 
fallen in defence of our free institutions, and sealed their devotion to 
their country with their lives. 

"Your committee accordingly caused a sketch to be prepared from 
the records of the city government, showing its action with reference 
to the subject, which was deposited in the corner stone with the news- 
papers of that date, city documents, photographs of our most distin- 
guished generals, and a complete roll, so far as the same could be 
obtained, of our patriot dead. 

"In this duty of collecting the names of those whose virtues are 
commemorated in the sculptured stone, we have been materially as- 
sisted by the careful i-esearch and industry of James B. Congdon, Esq., 
whose interest has been continuous in every eflbrt to honor valor and 
patriotic heroism. 

"These names are the heirlooms of our citizens, and the humblest 
among them should not be forgotten. A duplicate copy of his ' Roll 
of Honor ' we herewith ti'ansmit, that it may be preserved for future 
reference. 

"The appropriations made by the city for the purpose of the monu- 
ment have been thirteen thousand three hundred dollai's. Of this sum 
there has been paid to George F. Meacham, Esq., according to contract 
for the monument, §8,919.50, which includes the sum of $354.50 for 
cutting the inscriptions. The incidental expenses, including removal 
of flagstaff, excavation and removal of soil, extra foundation, prepara- 
tion of roll, surveying, and expenses of committee, amount to $357.70. 

"Your committee have also entered into contracts with George F. 
Meacham, as follows : For fence of bronze for $149G, and for stone 
curbing under the same for $1960; and with Charles Taber & Co. for 
incidentals, $25; thus leaving a balance of the appropriation yet unex- 
pended or subject to contract, the sum of $541.80. 

" This sum remains to defray the expense of flUing around the mon- 
ument and of grading the walks, and can as well be expended under 
the direction of the next city government. 

" The duty assigned to your committee has been as arduous as it 
has been honorable, but it is witli feelings of personal gratification 
that they deliver into your hands this beautiful monument of the lie- 
roism of our departed soldiers and sailors, and of the taste and mu- 
nificence of our fellow-citizens, who but feebly express their gratitude 
in its erection. It speaks thi'ough its enduring emblems and ite in- 
scriptions, its utterances of patriotic devotion to our common country, 
while it reqaljs the sad tales of the battle, the hospital and the prison. 



APPENDIX. 137 

It reruinds us of our duty to the living representatives of tliose who 
have gone from the field of strife to their long rest, and imposes upon 
us the duty of benevolent care for the widovs^ and the orphan of the 
heroic dead. 

"Our duty does not terminate with its erection. Those who sur- 
vive should feel the gratitude of a generous community, not alone in 
granite memorials to their comrades, but in such constant recognition 
of the value of those services as shall encourage patriotism and incul- 
cate in coming generations the principle instilled into us by our 
fathers.* 

" ' Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.' 

" For the committee. 

JOSEPH KNOWLES, Chairman." 



XXV. 
ROLL OF HONOR. 

THE NEW BEDFORD ROLL OF HONOR, 

Containing the names of the Volunteers in the Array and Navy who 
died in the service of the Country during the Great Rebellion. 

PREPARED BY ORDER OF THE CITY COUNCIL, MAY, 1809. 

[This record was prepared under the direction of a Joint Special 
Committee of the City Council, appointed to consider the subject of a 
Memorial Tablet for the names of the New Bedford Volunteers 
who died in the service of the country during the Great Rebellion.] 

* At the laying of the corner stone an aiWress was tlelivercd l)y the Rev. Alonzo II. 
Quint, and a poem by Jamts 15. Congdon, both of which were printed. 

The Roll of Honor whicli follows is a copy of the corrected roll prepared in ISO!) 
by order of the City Council, the manuscript of which, cai-efully and beautifully 
bound, is deposited in the archives of the city. 

R 



138 CENTENNIAL CELEBEATION. 



SOLDIERS. 

Akin, Charles R., Musician, 4th regiment cavalry, Co. B. Died of dis- 
ease February 10, 18G5, at Fortress Monroe. 

Akin, James F., 13th battery. Died in Chesapeake Hospital, Hampton, 
Va., November 12, 1863. 

Albro, James H., 2d regiment heavy artillery, Co. E. Died of fever 
in Newbern, N. C, October 8, 1804. 

Aldrich, Albert J,, Corporal, 30th regiment, Co. D. Died in camp 
opposite Vicksburg, July 19, 1862. 

Allen, Frederick S., Corporal, 20th regiment, Co. G. Died October 25, 
1862, of wounds received at Antictam. Grave at Linden Grove 
Cemetery, Westport. 

Andrews, Frank, 18th regiment, Co. A. Died at United States Gen- 
eral Hospital at Windmill Point, Va., February 10, 1863. 

Baker, Charles G., 1st regiment cavalry, Co. K. Died at home Sep- 
tember 4, 1862, two months after being discharged. Grave in Rural 
Cemetery. 

Barry, William (of Rochester?) 18th regiment, Co. C. Killed at Rap- 
pahannock Station, November 7, 1863. 

Bartlett, John E., 1st Rhode Island regiment, Co. F. Died at Beau- 
fort, N. C, June 29, 1862. 

Bean, John C, 3d regiment cavalry, Co. C. Died at Baton Rouge, La., 
July 5, 1863. 

Bcarse, Zachariah T., 3d regiment cavalry, Co. I. Died at home, 
August 9, 1864. Grave in Oak Grove Cemetery. 

Bentley, William, 38th regiment, Co. H. Died at New Orleans, La., 
June 4, 1863. 

Blain, Samuel J., First Lieutenant, — regiment U. S. colored troops. 
Died at Florence, S. C, about November 1, 1864. 

Blake, Luthan, 18th regiment, Co. A. Killed at battle of Fredericks- 
burg, December 13, 1862. Monument in West Cemetery. 

Blake, Peleg W., First Lieutenant, 5th battery. Killed near Peters- 
burg, June IS, 1864. Grave in West Cemetery. 

Blood, Thompson B. (of Chelsea?) 18th regiment, Co. A. Died in 
rebel prison at Andersonville, March 24, 1864. 

Bly, Joseph H., 38th regiment, Co. H. Died at Saterlee Hospital, 
Philadelphia, November 10, 1864, of wounds i-eceived at Cedar Creek, 
October 19, 1864. Buried in Oak Grove Cemetery. 

Booth, Charles R., 3d regiment cavalry, Co. A. Died at Port Hud- 
son, La., of wounds, Dec. 2, 1863. Grave in Oak Grove Cemetery. 

Booth, George F., 18th regiment, Co. A. Died at Hall's Hill, near 
AVashington, January 4, 1862. 

Booth, John C, 32d regiment, Co. C. Died in prison at Richmond, 
Va., December 4, 1863. 



131) 

APPENDIX. 



y TT <; si-nal corps. Died on board gunboat Sa- 
Bordon, Abraham E US ^^J^^^ ^^^^^ .^^ ^^^^^,,ry. 

chem, September 8, 1863. Grave m K u j,^^,^^,^ 13, 1862, 

Borden, Daniel W., 20th regiment, Co. D. ivuicu 

at ¥redericlisburg, Va. „„„i^^ m C Killed near 

TT „ T Tr ^il refiraent cavalry, CO. ^.v. ivui<-u 

Bo'^ilEXara, l.th re.iment. Co. A. D<e<. at An.e.ouvU.e. Novem- 
ber 14, 1801. . Y): ^ j,^ Camden 

at Cedar Creek. .^^^ ^ (-.ol^l Har- 

Briggs, Obed N., Corporal, 23d regiment, Co. D. KUiea 

bor, June 3, 1864. regiment cavalry, 

Brockdon (Beckdon on official list,) ^^^^J •; % _^22, 1805. 

February 13, 18b4. . tt c r-ninrprl infantry, Co. G. 

T^i... p Pnnt.ain 73d regiment U. S. colored uiuuitij-, 
Brown, John C, Captain, /ou i » ^^nnds received while as- 

Died on battlefield at Blakely, Ala., of wound, lecen 

B,;:;:^":K."(ornoc.ost.., .«. «,,™eut, CO. H. Dice, at 

B=ric;,"r cro;:n«u .....nt, c„. c. ...... at 

Olustee, Fla., February 20, 1804 ^^ 

Burke, Thomas, 3d regiment cavalry, Co. L. Uieci 

La., July 2, 1863. 4. n^ r Killod at Fort 

Campbell, Joseph R., Corporal, 54th regiment, Co. C. Killed 

Wagner, July 18, 1803. wounds received 

Canty,JohnM.,5thbattei-y D> W 18,^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

at Gettysburg. Buried July 2.»th, IbM, m ^^ 
Carroll, Patrick, Corporal, ^'^ ^^^^'^ ^^'l:^,^;, "" 

ington, August 6, 1864. Grave in ^^^^'^^ ^^^^ll^c^ 26, 1862, of 
Cavenaugh, Charles, 23d regiment, Co. D. Died 

c:arr;rrw.To"Ac-»et,.»U,..e.,™e,,t, CO.D. B.ea.n 

crrE:iD?r:r;e:Lr-Co.G. ....»<, at Co.. Ha..o.Va., 

June 9, 1864. ^^^^^■^„ rn v Died at Fort 



140 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

Christian, Stephen C, Corporal, 58th regiment, Co. E. Killed before 
Petersburg, June 17, 18G4. Buried November 27, 1864, in Oak Grove 
Cemetery. 

Clark, Johnson, Assistant Surgeon, 99th New York regiment. Died 
December 9, 18G1. 

Clough, James, Corporal, 7th regiment, Co. A. Died in Armory Hos- 
pital, "Washington, June 18, 1863, of wounds received at Fredericks- 
burg May 3, 1863. 

Coble, Lewis H., 23d regiment, Co. D. Died at Newbern, N. C, April 
U, 1862. 

Coburn, Harry N., Hospital Steward, 3d regiment cavalry. Died No- 
vember 4, 1863, at Port Hudson. 

Cole, Charles B., Musician, 55th regiment, Co. B. Died December 20, 
1863, at Folly Island, S. C. 

Conly, Timothy, 2Sth regiment, Co. B. Killed at Antietam, September 
17, 1862. 

Coombs, Erastus M., Corporal, 18th regiment, Co. A. Died at Har- 
rison's Landing, July 19, 1862. 

Corcoran (Corkery in official list,) Timothy, Sergeant, 28th regiment, 
Co. B. Killed in battle of Chantilly, September 1, 1862. 

Crane, Charles F., 3d regiment, Co. E. Died at Newbern, Jan. 29, 1863. 

Crape, Henry D., 5th battery. Killed at Bottom Bridge, Va., June 8, 
1864. 

Crapo, Stephen E., Corporal, 58th regiment, Co. E. Killed near Spott- 
sylvania Court House, May 12, 1861. Grave in Rural Cemetery. 

Davis, William F. ((juota of Lawrence.) Died at Andersonville, Ga., 
October 28, 1864. 

Dennison, John, 9th regiment, Co. C. Died at Mount Pleasant, Wash- 
ington, D. C, November 7, 1863. 

Devoll, Charles F., 13th Illinois regiment. Died at Nashville, Tonn., 
June 2, 1864. Grave in Rural Cemetery. 

Dixon, Charles, 55th regiment, Co. D. Died at Beaufort, S. C, June 
16, 1865. 

Douglass, Charles B., 3d regiment cavalry, Co. A. Wounded in action. 
Plane's Store, La., November 29, 1863; died next day. 

Downing, Patrick, 2d regiment heavy artillery, Co. E. Died at New- 
bern, N. C, June 6, 1864. 

Dunham, Amos J., 58th regiment, Co. E. Died at Annapolis, October 
28, 1864. Grave in Oak Grove Cemetery. 

Dwyer, Timothy, 28th regiment, Co. H. Killed at Fredericksburg, 
December 13, 1862. 

Eagan (Akin in official list,) Alexander, 20th regiment, Co. D. Killed 
at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863. Grave in Rural Cemetery. 

Edson, Lowell M., 3d regiment cavalry, Co. A. Died at Baton Rouge, 
July 28, 1863. Grave in Oak Grove Cemetery. 



APPENDIX. 141 

Elliott, Joseph, 3d regiment cavalry, Co. C. Killed uear Alexandria, 
La., May 1, 18G4. 

Fitzsimiuons, Heury (quota of Middleborough,) 5Sth regiment, Co. K. 
Died in Baltic, Conn., August, 18G7, of wounds received at Peters- 
burg, Va., April 2, 1865. Grave in Catholic Cemetery, 

Flaherty, John, 2d regiment cavalry, Co. B. Died at Fort Ethan Allen, 
August 30, 1863. 

Fleetwood, Lewis A., 54th regiment, Co. C. AVounded at Fort Wag- 
ner, July 18, 1863; foot amputated; died in New Bedford after dis- 
charge. Grave in Oak Grove Cemetery. 

Foster, Daniel 0., Quartermaster-Sergeant, 4th regiment cavalry, Co. 
B. Died at Deer Island, April 20, 1864. 

Garlick, Eeuben A. (of Dartmouth:) 3d regiment cavalry, Co. H. 
Killed September 19, 1864, at battle of Winchester. 

Gibson, Charles H., Musician, 23d regiment, Co. D. Killed on board 
steamer Fawn, September 13, 1864, on Roanoke river. 

Gifl'ord, William H., 58th regiment, Co. E. Died in Danville prison, 
August 14, 1864. Grave at South Dartmouth. 

Gilman, Edward G., 1st regiment Maine heavy artillery. Died before 
Petersburg, Va., December 15, 1865. 

Gooding, James H., Sergeant, 54th regiment, Co. C. Wounded and 
taken prisoner at Olustee, Fla., February 20, 1864; died at Ander- 
sonville, July 19, 1864. 

Gordon, Thomas (quota of Cambridge,) 28th regiment, Co. D. Re- 
ported missing in action, May 18, 1864. 

Graham, Edward. Died at Andersonville, October 5, 1864. 

Gray, Franklin S., 58th regiment, Co. E. Killed at Cold Harbor, June 
3, 1864. 

Gray, John H., 99th New York regiment, Co. A. Died at Yorktown, 
Va., October 2, 1863. 

Hall, Joseph L., 54th regiment, Co. C. Missing at the assault on Fort 
Wagner, July 18, 1863. 

Hall, Levi, 4th regiment cavalry, Co. C. Killed at St. John's Island, 
July 17, 1864. 

Handley, Herbert, Sergeant, 20th regiment, Co. G. Killed by a horse 
in Providence, September 8, 1861. 

Hart, J. B. W., Jr., 6th company heavy artillery. Died at Fort Baker, 
D. C, September 4, 1864. 

Harvey, George W., Corporal, 33d regiment, Co. I. Died at Ander- 
sonville prison, Ga., August 30, 1864. 

Hathaway, John F., 5th battery. Died July 14, 1863, of Avounds re- 
ceived at Gettysburg. Buried in West Cemetery, August 5, 1863. 

Hawes, George E., Corporal, 38th regiment, Co. H. Died December 
14, 1862, at Hampton, Va. Grave in Rural Cemetery. 



142 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

Heilmau, George, 16tli regiment, Co. H. Died at Andersouville, Ga., 

November 3, 1864. 
Heiutz, John H., 3d regiment cavalry, Co. A. Died at Port Hudson, 

October 1, 1S63. 
Hcrron, William H., 3d New Hampshire regiment, Co. K. Died at 

Nashville, May 24, 1865. 
Hill, Henry, First Sergeant, 33d regiment, Co. I. Killed at Dallas, 

Ga., May 25, 1864, 
Hogan, John, 28th regiment, Co. B. Killed at Antietam, September 

17, 1862. 
Holmes, James, 38th regiment, Co. 11. Died at Baton Kouge, October 

21, 18C3. 
Howard, George H., 6th company heavy artillery. Died in hospital at 

New Bedford, October 24, 1863. 
Howard, Hiram B., 20th regiment, Co. D. Killed at Gettysburg, July 

3, 18G3. 
Howland, Charles F., First Sergeant, 41st regiment, Co. A. Died at 

Baton Rouge, La., Feb. 19, 1863. Buried in Oak Grove Cemetery. 
Howland, George W., Captain, 3d regiment cavalry, Co. A. Died at 

home, June 6, 1865 (discharged April 11, 1865.) Grave in Rural 

Cemetery. 
Howland, Lothrop P., 33d regiment, Co. I. Killed at battle of AVau- 

hatchie, October 29, 1863. 
Hussey, Robert B., 58th regiment, Co. E. Died at Nantucket, while 

on furlough, November 27, 1864. 
Jackson, William S., 5th regiment cavalry, Co. F. Died at Clarksville, 

Texas, July 15, 1865. 
Jenuey, Sauford, Jr., Sergeant, 2d regiment heavy artillery, Co. E. 

Died at Newbern, N. C, May 4, 1864. Buried in Oak Grove Cemetery. 
Johnson, Edward, Sergeant, 3d I'egiment cavalry, Co. C. Killed in 

action at Alexandria, La., May 1, 1864. 
Jones, Chai'les, Corporal, 18th regiment, Co. H. Died in New Bed- 
ford, March 31, 1864. 
Joyner, Robert S., 18th regiment, Co. F. Taken prisoner at battle of 

the Wilderness, May, 1864; died in rebel prison at Millen, Ga. 
Kanuse, Benjamin S., 5th battery. Killed before Petersburg, June 18, 

1864. Buried in West Cemetery. 
Keen, David S., 29th regiment, Co. D. Died at Crab Orchard, Ky., 

October 19, 1863. Grave in Oak Grove Cemetery. 
Kemptou, Charles G., 38th regiment, Co. H. Died at University Hos- 
pital, New Orleans, April 25, 1863. 
Kenney, Silas C, Corporal, 38th regiment, Co. H. Killed at Port 

Hudson, June 14, 1863. 
Killian, Michael, 6th company heavy artillery. Died at Fort Baker, 

Washington, August 22, 1864. 



ArPENDIX. 143 

King, Leprelate, 4th regiment, Co. K. Died at Brashear City, June 

11, 18G3. 
Kingmau, Henry C. (quota of Ilochester,) 23d regiment, Co. 1). Died 

in Libby prison, iriclimond, Va., August Ct, JS'U, of wounds received 

at Drury's Bluff. 
Kubler, John F., Sergeant, 3d regiment heavy artillery, Co. B. Died 

at Sanitary Commission Hospital, Washington, November IB, 1864. 

Grave in Eural Cemetery. 
Lally, Michael, 3d regiment cavalry, Co. A. Died of wounds at Win- 
chester, Va., November 7, 1S(J4. 
Landers, Joseph N., 41st regiment, Co. A. Died at Baton Rouge, La , 

March 20, 18C3. 
Lawrence, George H., 3d New Hampshire regiment, Co. E. Killed at 

Morris Island, July 27, 1SG3. 
Lawtou, David, 2d regiment heavy artillery, Co. F. Died November 

15, 1864, at Newbern, N. C. 
Leavens, James H.,' Sergeant, 18th regiment, Co. A. Killed at Gettys- 
burg, Pa., July 2, 18C3. 
Lee, John, 41st regiment, Co. A. Died at home, June 11, 18G3. Buried 

in Oak Grove Cemetery. 
Lemunyon, Luther W., 26th regiment, Co. G. Died at New Orleans, 

October 25, 1863. 
Leonard, Stephen H., 3d regiment cavalry, Co. A. Died September 

24, 1864, at Winchester, Va., of wounds received September 19. 
Leonard, Thomas W., 47th regiment, Co. D. Died at Camp Parapet, 

Carrollton, La., July 15, 1863. 
Lines, Samuel, 24th regiment, Co. F. Killed at Newbern, N. C, 

March 14, 1862. 
Look, Gilbert A., 2d regiment heavy artillery, Co. E. Died in Newark, 

N. J., June 8, 1864. 
Louden, Edward (quota of Westport,) 22d regiment, Co. G. Died at 

Andersonville, Ga., October 11, 1864. 
Low, Eobert A., 5oth regiment, Co. B. Died at Boston, Jan. 5, 1864. 
Lucas, Charles A., Sergeant, 3d regiment cavalry, Co. A. Died at 

Port Hudson, La., Nov. 30, 1863. Grave in Oak Grove Cemetery. 
Lucas, George F., 20th regiment, Co. D. Killed at Gettysburg, Pa., 

July 3, 1863. 
Luce, Lewis P., 3d regiment cavalry, Co. C. Died at Baton Rouge, 

La., August 20, 1863. 
Luce, Nathaniel R., Musician, 6th company heavj" artillery. Died at 

New Bedford, February 29, 1864. 
McDevitt, Hugh, 3d regiment cavalry, Co. A. Killed at Winchester, 

Va., September 19, 1864. 
McGowan, John, 2d regiment heavy artillery, Co. H, Died at Ander- 
sonville prison, June 25, 1864. 



144 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

Mack, Andrew N., 58th regiment, Co. E. Killed at Cold Harbor, June 

3, 18G4. Grave in Eural Cemetery. 
Macy, Charles G., 18th regiment, Co. I. Died at Andersonville, Ga., 

September 1, 18G4. 
Manchester, AVilliara E., 18th regiment, Co. F. Killed at Bull Run, 

August 30, 1862. 
Marcy, Charles, 11th regiment, Co. K. Killed May G, 1864, in the 

battle of the Wilderness. 
Marshall, Augustus L., 4th regiment cavalry, Co. E. Died August 21, 

1864, at Fortress Monroe. 
Martin, Thomas (of California?) First Sergeant, 2d regiment cavalry, 

Co. K. Killed in action, August 27, 1864. 
Maxim, David, Jr. (quota of Worcester,) 3d regiment heavy artillery, 

Co. B. Died in Washington, March 18, 1865. Grave in Oak Grove 

Cemetery. 
Maxwell, Luther, 8th Maine regiment, Co. E. Died at Point of Rocks, 

Md., October 11, 1864. 
Miller, Luke, 20th regiment, Co. G. Wounded at Gettysburg; died 

at Andersonville, October 1, 1864, 
Millikeu, Albert F., Corporal, 5th battery. Killed at Gaines Mills, Va., 

June 27, 18C2. 
Morris, William H., 54th regiment, Co. K. Missing since action of 

Olustee, Fla., February 20, 1864. 
Mosher, Philip (of Raynham?) 4th regiment cavalry, Co. B. Prisoner 

at Gainesville, Fla. Died in hands of the enemy. 
Nolaud, Joseph, 25th regiment U. S. colored troops, Co. H. Died at 

Fort Barrancas, Fla., June 16, 1865. 
I^orton, William S., 3d regiment cavalry, Co. A. Died at New Orleans, 

January 29, 1864. 
Nye, Ephraim B., Second Lieutenant, 14th battery. Killed at Peters- 
burg, Va., March 25, 1865. Buried at Pocasset. 
Nye, Franklin, 3d regiment cavalry, Co. C. Killed at Port Hudson, 

November 30, 1863. 
O'Brien, Daniel (of Boston?) 20th regiment, Co. D. Killed at Ball's 

Bluff, October 21, 1861. 
Oliver, Charles H., Quartermaster-Sergeant, 4th regiment cavalry, Co. 

B. Died a prisoner at Albany, Fla., January 6, 1865. 
Oliver, Horatio G., Jr., Sergeant, 4th regiment cavalry, Co. B. Died 

in hands of enemy, at Wilmington, N. C, March 4, 18G5. 
O'Malley, Owen, 7th regiment, Co. II. Died at Chancellorsville, Va., 

May 3, 18G3. 
Ormond, Patrick, 23d regiment, Co. D. Supposed to have died at 

Andersonville, December, 1864. 
Orne, George, 3d regiment, Co. F. Died January 30, 1863, at Boston. 



APPENDIX. 145 

Palmer, George S., 18th regiment, Co. H. Died in Farley Hospital, 
Washington, November 14, 1863, of wounds received at Rappahan- 
nock Station. Buried in Oak Grove Cemetery. 
Pearson, William, 3d regiment cavalry, Co. B. Killed at Jackson, La., 

August 3, 18G3. 
Peuniman, James M., 32d regiment, Co. G. Died at Annapolis, Feb- 
ruary 2(5, 1865. 
Perry, Oliver H., 157th Pennsylvania regiment. Died June 20, 1865. 
Place, Henry, veteran reserve corps. Died at Harwood Hospital, 

Washington, D. C, January 18, 1864. 
Potter, Walter A., 23d regiment, Co. D. Killed at Newbern, March 

14, 1862. 
Pugh, Sampson, 5th regiment cavalry, Co. D. Died at David's island, 

N. Y., October 26, 1865. 
Records, Lemuel S., 33d regiment, Co. I. Died in hospital at Look- 
out Valley, Tenn., April 1, 1864, 
Reed, Isaac, 18th regiment, Co. A. Died at Florence, S. C, Septem- 
ber, 1864. 
Reichmann, Edward, Corporal, 47th regiment, Co. D. Died Septem- 
ber 24, 1863. 
Richmond, Cyrus A., Corporal, 1st regiment cavalry, Co. K. Died at 
• home, November 1, 1862. Grave in Rural Cemetery. 
Rodgers, William T., 18th regiment, Co. L Died September 16, 1863, 

at Newark, N. J. 
Rodman, William L., Lieutenant-Colonel, 38th regiment. Killed at 

Port Hudson, May 27, 1863. Buried in Oak Grove Cemetery. 
Ryan, James P., 38th regiment, Co. H. Died at University Hospital, 

New Orleans, June 4, 1863. 
Sargent, Joseph A., Sergeant, 3d regiment cavalry, Co. A. Died at 

Annapolis, March 12, 1865. 
Scannell, John, 9th regiment, Co. K. Died of wounds, July 1, 1862. 
Sears, Charles H., 23d regiment, Co. D. Died at Newbern, January 
1, 1863, of wounds received in the battle of Whitehall, December 16, 
1862. Grave at South Dartmouth. 
Sekell, Isaac W., 3d regiment cavalry, Co. A. Died at Chestnut Street 

Hospital, Philadelphia, January 12, 1865. 
Shepherd, Eugene (quota of Chelsea.) Died at Nashville, Tenn., 

January, 1865. 
Shepherd; James P., 18tlr regiment, Co. A. Died at West Philadel- 
phia, July 18, 1863, of wounds received at Gettysburg. Buried in 
Rural Cemetery. 
Sherman, William F., 31st Maine regiment, Co. C. Died at Millen, 

Ga., October 30, 1864. 
Simmons, Charles H., 6th company heavy artillery. Died in hospital 
at Clark's Point, New Bedford, October 19, 1863. 
s 



146 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

. Simpson, George, 20tli regiment, Co. G. Killed at Ball's Bliifl", Octo- 
ber 21, 1861. 
Smith, James, 20th regiment, Co. D. Died December 20, 18G2. 
Smith, Matthew, 20th regiment, Co. D. Died December 11, 18G2, at 

Falmouth, Va. 
Smith, Michael, 3d regiment cavair}', Co. A. Died at Fort Kearnej-, 

August 24, 1865. ^ 

Smith, Octavius C, Sergeant, 33d regiment, Co. I. Killed at battle of 

Wauhatchie, Tenn., October 29, 1863. 
Soule, Henry W., 6th battery. Killed at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863. 

Grave in Oak Grove Cemetery. 
Spoouer, Francis, 18th regiment, Co. A. Died at Andersonville, Ga., 

August 3, 1864. 
Stowell, Columbus, 4th regiment cavalry, Co. B. Died in prison at 

Charleston, S. C, October 15, 18G4. 
Swain, Charles B., 1st regiment cavalry, Co. K. Died at Beaufort, S. 

C, November 4, 1862. 
Sweeney, William A., Corporal, 33d regiment, Co. I. Killed at battle 

of Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864. 
Taber, Samuel H., 58th regiment, Co. E. Died in Danville prison 

hospital, August 31, 1864. 
Thatcher, William H., 6th company heavy artillery. Died at Fort 

Davis, D. C, June 27, 1864. 
Thompson, James, 13th battery. Drowned at Hampton Road, Va., 

February 1, 1863. 
Tillinghast, Charles F., 3d regiment cavalry, Co. A. Prisoner at battle 

of Cedar Creek. Died in prison at Salisbury, N. C, June 9, 1864. 

Monument in Rural Cemetery ; it is not known where his body is laid. 
Tillinghast, Tliomas G., Sergeant. 3d regiment cavalry, Co. A. Died 

at Winchester, Va., October 20, 1864, of wounds received at Cedar 

Creek. Monument in Rural Cemetery ; it is not known where his 

remains were laid. 
Tirrell, Charles F., 7th regiment, Co. I. Killed at Fredericksburg, 

December 13, 1862. 
Torrence, Abraham P., Corporal, 54th regiment, Co. C. Killed at Fort 

Wagner, July 18, 1863. 
Tripp, Ebenezer, 20th regiment, Co. G. Killed at Ball's Bluff, October 

21, 1861. 
Tripp, James H., 47th regiment, Co. D. Died June 4, 1863, at Carroll- 
ton, La. 
Tripp, Jireh B., 23d regiment, Co. D. Died in Libby prison, Rich- 
mond, Va., October 14, 1864. 
Tripp, Leander A., Sergeant, 38th regiment, Co. H. Died June 30, 

1864, at Morganza, La, 



AfPEKDiX. 147 

Tripp, William H., 23cl regiment, Co. D. Killed before Petersburg, . 
August 16, 1864. Grave in Rural Cemeter3^ 

Tuckwell, Charles F., 23d regiment, Co. D. Died at Newberu, May 1), 
1862. Grave in West Cemetery. 

Turner, Treadwell, 54tli regiment, Co. C. Killed at Fort W^agner, 
July 18, 1803. 

Urban, Henry, 20th regiment, Co. C. Died January 7, 1865. 

Viall, George M. (of Providence?) 41st regiment, Co. A. Died at 
Baton Kouge, May 15, 1863. 

Watson, Samuel J., Second Lieutenant, 58th regiment, Co. E. Died 
at home, December 11, 1864, from want and exposure in Danville 
prison, Va. Grave in Rural Cemetery. 

Weaver, Norbert V., 33d regiment, Co. D. Mortally wounded at Cold 
Harbor, June 3, 1864. Monument in Rural Cemetery. 

Welsh, Edward G., 8d regiment cavalry, Co. A. Killed at battle of 
Cedar Creek, Va., October 19, 1804. 

Welsh, William H., 3d regiment heavy artillery, Co. D. Died at Gal- 
lop's Island, Boston Harbor, September 15, 1805. Grave iu Catholic 
Cemetery. 

WhaloH, Joseph, 18th regiment, Co. B. Died May 0, 1802, at York- 
town, Va. 

Whitehall, John D., 2d regiment cavalry, Co. I. Died at Gloucester 
Point, Va., March 31, 1863. 

Whitmau, Onley A., 7th Rhode Island regiment, Co. I. Died at Balti- 
more, March 30, 1863. Grave in West Cemeteiy. 

Wilcox, Seth A., Sergeant, 3d regiment cavalry, Co. A. Died at home, 
May 30, 1864. Grave in Oak Grove Cemetery. 

Wilcox, William S., 5th battery. Died November 28, 1862, at Fal- 
mouth, Va. 

Williams, Henry J., 18th regiment, Co. A. Died at Sharpsburg, Md , 
October 17, 1862. 

Williams, William (quota of Belmont,) 55th regiment, Co. K. Died 
at regimental hospital. Folly Island, S. C, August 19, 1864. 

Williston, William H., 21st regiment, Co. C. Killed at Newbern, N. 
C, March 14, 1862. 

Wing, John A., 33d regiment, Co. D. Missing in action. May 16, 1864. 

Winn, Hugh (of Fall Kiver?) 4th regiment cavalry, Co. B. Died at 
Florence, S. C. 

Wood, Horatio, Quartermaster-Sergeant, 1st regiment cavalry. Died 
on board steamer Ericsson, June 25, 1862. 

Wordell, Charles P., 58th regiment, Co. E. Died in Douglas Hos- 
pital, Washington, August 27, 18G4, of wounds received at the 
assault upon Petersburg, July 30, 1804. 

Young, Angus W., 18th regiment, Co. D. Killed at Fredericksburg, 
December 13, 1802. 



148 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

Young, Nathan L., 54th regiment, Co. C. Wounded at Fort Wagner, 
July 18, 1863; died at Beaufort, S. C, next day. 

SEAMEN. 

Almy, Thomas, Acting Master's Mate, steamer Wachusett. Killed at 
City Point, Va., May 20, 18G2. 

Andrews, Manuel. Ditd in Marine Hospital, Chelsea, Sept. 11, 18G1. 

Avila, Ellsha N. (quota of Boston,) steamer Benton. Killed at Fort 
Donaldson, February 14, 18G2. 

Ely, Horatio T., steamer St. Louis. Died of wounds, Oct. 17, 18()2. 

Boakim, Emanuel, Stewaril. Killed August 5, 1864. 

Cornell, John M., steamer Mound City. Died March 16, 1864. 

Coxcu, Edward M. Died of wounds, July 24, 1863. 

Daudridge, Andrew, Cook. Died of disease, March 19, 1862. 

Francis, Isaac, Jr , Acting Ensign, schooner Matthew Vassar. Died 
May 18, 18G3. 

Prates, Antoue. Killed June 2, 1862. 

Fuller, James, frigate Congress. Drowned in Hampton Road. 

Gifford, Charles R. Killed at Brooklyn Navy Yard,. June 20, 1862. 

Clifford, David S. Died of disease, February 14, 1862. 

Gould, John, steamer Herald. Killed October 2j, 1863. 

Handy, Joshua J., steamer Augusta. Died 1862. 

Harrington, Jeremiah, steamer Kattler. Died of gunshot wounds, 
March 19, 1863. 

Howes, Alphonso S., gunboat Sagamore. Died of disease, September 
22, 1865, at Marine Hospital, Baltimore. 

Hullahan, Thomas (quota of Chelsea.) Died of disease at New Or- 
leans, July 24, 1862. 

Jenney, James T., steamer Twilight. Died of disease, March 20, 1863, 
at Beaufort, N. C. Grave in West Cemetery. 

Kempton, Silas W., Acting Master's Mate, steamer Santiago de Cuba. 
Lost overboard in Chesapeake Bay, March 23, 1865. 

Louis, John. Died June 12, 1863. 

Lucius, Juan. Died at Brooklyn, May 19, 1865. 

McCarty, John. Died of disease, December 8, 1862. 

Milan, Michael, frigate Congress. Killed in Hampton Koad, March 17, 
1862. 

Milliken, Charles E., First Class Boy. Killed in Mobile Bay, August 
25, 1864. 

Mullauy, Philip. Died from casualty, January 26, 1864. 

Nugent, Robert N. Died at Charleston, S. C, December 6, 1863. 

O'Neil, Cornelius. Lost in steamer Cincinnati, March 27, 1863. 

Ottivvell, Nathaniel D., Acting Master's Mate, steamer Cambridge. 
Died off Cape Lookout, September 27, 1861. Buried at sea. Monu- 
ment in Rural Cemetery. 



APPENDIX. 149 

Paruell, James E., steamer Romeo. Died August 13, 1863, on board 

hospital-ship Red Rover. 
Peirce, John A. Perished on board the Curaberhxnd in Hampton Road, 

March 8, 18(52. Grave in Rural Cemetery. 
Phillips, Edward. -Died in Marine Hospital, Chelsea, Dec. 19, 18G1. 
Rogers, Reuben G. Died of disease, September 20, 1862. 
Scott, John. Died of disease, November 20, 1861. 
Standish, William D., steamer Meteor. Died October 1, 1864. 
Taber, Daniel G. Blown up in the Tecumseh, in Mobile Bay, August 

5, 18G4. 
Taber, John C, First Class Boy, ship Ohio. Died of disease. May 8, 

186-1. Grave in Rural Cemetery. 
Thompson, William. Died May 27, 1863. 
Warren, Alvern S., steamer Santiago de Cuba. Died of wounds at 

Norfolk, Va., June 18, 1865. 
West, William A. Died April 15, 1863. 
Wordell, Gardner R., steamer Southfleld. Drowned April 19, 1864. 



XXV^I. 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF NEW BEDFORD. 

Prom the incorporation of the town of New Bedford in 1787 to the 
year 1821, the free school was called the town-school, and was for 
most of the period a school for the children of the indigent, — a branch 
of the department for the support of the poor. 

A more just and more elevated idea was, no doubt, attached to the 
public school, and one more in harmony with its present position, 
when, on May 28th, 1787, it was voted in town meeting " that there 
be one person employed as a town schoolmaster in this town." From 
1787 to 1798 there was annually passed, under an article of the war- 
rant " to see what number of schoolmasters shall be provided for the 
ensuing year at the charge of the town," a vote that " the selectmen 
appoint the schoolmasters of the town, accoixUng to laio." 

At the March meeting, 1798, under an article in the warrant " to 
vote a sum of money for schooling poor children," a vote was adopted 



150 CENTENNIAL CELEBEATION. 

whifli wholly changed the principle upon which the public schools 
Avcre founded. 

A committee was appointed "to inquire into the number of }woj' 
children in said town necessary to send to school at the expense of 
said town." The committee were William Ilotch, Jr., Edward Pope, 
Lemuel Williams, Joseph Bennett, Alden Spooner, Pardou Cook, Eb- 
enezer Keen, and John Chaffee. 

The character of the report, whicli is not given, may be gathered 
from the votes at the meeting held May 14th following. 

" Voted, To accept the report of the committee who were chosen to 
report on the expediency of raising a sum of money to school the poor 
children in this town, and to raise tico hundred dollars for that purpose. 

" Voted, To choose a committee of eight persons to lay out the 
same sum on those most needij." 

The same committee, with one exception, was appointed. From 
1798 to 1820 this miserable apology for a free school was continued; 
the annual appropriations varying in amount from $200 to $1000, the 
average, after the setting ofl' of Falrhaven in 1812, being $470. 

An attempt was made in ISU to raise the public school from the 
slough of pauperism, mismanagement and misgovernmeut into which 
it had fallen. A committee, upon which were the names of William 
Rotcli, Jr., John Mason Williams, Samuel Hodman, Thomas Hazard, 
Jr., and nine others, was appointed under a vote "that a plan be 
reported for regulating schools for the instruction of children, in con- 
formity to the existing laws of the Commonwealth." 

For many years the laws had been disregarded, and they were to be 
ten years more, for nothing came of the effort made at this time to 
depauperize the school. 

It was not until 1821 that the people of the town recognized their 
rights and their obligations in relation to free schools under the laws 
of the State. The struggle to eflect the change was earnest and pro- 
tracted. Twice after the schools were established, once in relation to 
the grammar schools and once with reference to the high school, were 
votes passed by which they were abolished. 

The first appropriation was $1200. This was in 1821. Ten years 
after it was $5000. In 1841 it had been increased to $15,400. The 
last appropriation under the town government was $21,225. 

The name of John Avery Parker is honorably associated with the 
successful efl'ort of 1821. He was of the school committee of that year, 
and its chairman. It would be an act of simple justice to have the 
"sti-eet struck off from the name of the 'Parker Street school,'" that 
in the name an honorable testimony may be borne to the labors of this 
friend and pioneer of the free public schools. 

Above we have given an abstact of the opening pages of our school 
history. We follow it with the closing. Following this we give ex- 



APPENDIX. 



151 



tracts from the last report of the New Bedford School Committee, - 
a document interesting for its valuable information and for the con- 
trast it presents to the statements of the early records. 

KXTRACTS FROM THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE 
FOR THE YEAR 1875. 

STATISTICS OF THE SCHOOLS. 

T. Toindation. 

The population of the city is 25,8/6 

School census, May 1, 1875, *'002 

77. Schools. 

TraiDin- . ^ 

High, ^ 

Grammar, 

10 

rrimary, ^ 

Country, 

Mill, ^ 

„ 1 

Farm, 

Total, -^ 

777. School Buildings. 

Number of buildings owned by the city, 23 

Number of buildings hired, _2 

23 
7T". Teachers. 
High school, ^ 

O.J 

Grammar schools, '^-' 

Primary schools, -^ 

Mill school ^ 

Country schools (including Farm,) 1- 

Special teachers, j 

Total, 100 

F. Scholars. (Fall Term, 1875.) 
Whole number of all ages, in 

(iirls. ooys. 

Training school, ^^ 

High school, 1-^0 97 

Grammar schools, • • ^^'^ °" 

Primary schools, 800 892 



152 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

Gills. Boys 

Country schools, 145 150 

Mill school, 21 19 

Total, 1797 1801 3599 

Per cent of attendance : 

High school, 95 

Mill school, 90 

Grammar schools, 95 

Primary schools, 92 

Country schools, 89 

Average per cent, of attendance for all the schools except the Training 

school, 93 

CEXSUS OF SCHOOL CHILDREN, 

The last legislature relegated to the school committee the duty of 
taking the census of the school children, requiring an additional range 
of details to render the service more useful. 

The whole number of children returned as being between 5 and 15 
years of age on the first of May last, is 4002. Of these, 30G0 were re- 
ported to be in the public schools ; 21G in private schools ; 296 at work 
in the two large mills; 21 at work in places other than the mills. 

These determinate figures foot up 3593; leaving 409 only, or 10 1-5 
per cent, as allowance for invalids, for those who are detained at home 
to aid in the family labors, and for all those occupied through the many 
other contingencies, that in a city like this inevitably interfere to keep 
children from school. The number absolutely unaccounted for, among 
which alone the friendless or neglected, whose lives are running hope- 
lessly to waste, are to be found, is so small as to excite the liveliest 
satisfaction. 

THE EXPENDITURES. 

The appropriation for teachers' salaries asked for by the committee 
of expenditures, in behalf of the Board, and granted by the City Coun- 
cil, was $5G,000. This estimate was based on the expenditures of the 
previous year, and was supposed to be sufticient for the current year. 

But there has already been paid out to the teachers the sum of $50,- 
301.58, leaving a balance of $5,G38.42. The remaining pay roll of the 
year will include six weeks, and will require the sum of §85G9. 
There will therefore be a deficit of $2,930.58, for which an additional 
grant must be made by the City Council. 

The appropriation for incidental expenses, including $900 lately 
granted for the evening schools, was $18,400. The estimates were 
made on a basis of positive need, and were divided as follows : for 
salaries, $3050; evening schools, $1900; drawing school, $1500; 
sweepers' pay rolls, $2500; books and printing, $2000; fuel, $3000; 



APPENDIX. 153 



heating apparatus, $1500; cleaning, $800; furniture and fixtures, 
miscellaneous expenses, f 1400. 

In studjMug economy for the future, it will not be possible to trench 
to any great extent on the amount heretofore granted for our inciden- 
tal expenses. Ten years ago there were only 57 separate seated rooms 
in use by our public schools; there are now 88; there were only G7 
regular teachers ; there are now 96 ; and it is very evident that there 
must have been a large increase in the amount of supplies necessary 
to keep these many teachers and rooms in good working condition. 
Yet by the constant exercise of judicious care on the part of the com- 
mittee on expenditures in their disbursements, and the close scrutiny 
of all bills for goods and service rendered, every channel of expense 
has been kept under so thorough control that the per cent, of outlay 
has by no means been extended to equal the increased demand. 

CONDITION OF THE SCHOOLS. 

High School. 

None of the teachers of this school have been interrupted in their 
work throughout the year by any contingencies, and they have labored 
with their usual faithfulness and success. 

The routine of study, as prescribed by the manual, has been followed 
with as much fidelity as circumstances would allow. It sometimes 
occurs in a school of such a character, that a temporary departure 
from the dictated order of study will better serve its interests. 

Three of the masters of the last graduating class have entered Am- 
herst College, sustaining the examination for admission very creditably. 

The Grammar Schools. 

The Fifth Street school was exiled from its school-house during the 
first terra of the last school year, while it was undergoing enlargement 
and renovation, and through that long interval, scattered about in 
temporary quarters, was deprived of its usual facilities for its ap- 
pointed work. It especially suflered in regard to writing and drawing, 
and such practice in the study of language as depends on written ex- 
ercises ; all of which were necessarily intermitted. 

The Parker Street school is now undergoing the experiences to 
which the Fifth Street school was subjected last year, and for the same 
grateful cause — the enlargement and renovation of its school-house. 
The alarm sounded by the Chairman of the Board for 1874 in his an- 
nual report, and again by liis Honor the Mayor in his first inaugural 
address, as to the danger to which the scholars of that school would 
be subjected in case of fire, was too serious to be disregarded. The 
incoming City Council took early action in reference to the reconstruc- 
tion of the house. The influence we had anticipated from the burden- 
some cost of the new high school house, to preclude for an indefinite 
T 



154 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

period any further expenditure for school accommodations, was not. 
suffered to have weight iu this instance. And a satisfactory plan of 
enlargement having been obtained, a sufficient appropriation was unan- 
imously voted, and in due time the work was begun. When the house 
shall at length be ti-ansferred to the Board for the uses of the school, 
it will be so in contrast with its former condition, so ample and con- 
venient in its school-rooms and corridors, so safe in its three commo- 
dious stairways, so well appointed in its clothes-i'ooms for both schol- 
ars and teachers, and so admirably capacitated to serve the general 
exercises of the school by its large and sightly hall, that the luxury of 
possession will far more than compensate for the inconvenience con- 
sequent on the process of reconstruction. 

The Primary Schools. 

There have been more than the average number of changes of teach- 
ers in the primary schools during the past year. A full quarter of the 
former corps has given place to beginners in the work ; and almost the 
entire graduating class of the Training school, numbering IG, has al- 
ready been absorbed by these schools, and their complements in the 
country schools. 

The advantages derived from the Training school have tlierefore 
been conspicuously manifest. Had so large a number of new teachers 
begun their labors without any previous experience, making their 
scholars for successive mouths the unfortunate victims of their crude 
experiments in learning how to govern and how to teach, the average 
condition of several of the schools of this department would have 
fallen verj' low, and it would not have been easy to tone them up to 
their previous condition. But the most of the graduates of the Train- 
ing school, familiar with the requirements of disciiJliue as well as with 
the routine of approved study, promptly and systematically enter upon 
their duties with effective capacity from the start, and there is neither 
loss of time nor depravation of character. 

Country Schools. 

A slice has been taken from the territory of our Acushnet neighbors 
and added to the city limits since the beginning of the year, that has 
materially increased the size of the North school, so that it has been 
thought expedient to appoint an assistant to the school. 

The schools of this department, in general, are working to good 
advantage, and in a satisfactory condition. 

Mill School. 

The census of school children, la'tely taken, has settled not a few 
vexed questions in reference to the children employed in the mills, and 
taught us what expectations we are justified iu forming in relation to 



AITEKDIX. 155 

the Mill school. The School Committee have all along been supposing 
that a much larger number of children of school age were in the mills 
than proves to be the case ; and therefore, that the Mill school ought 
to show a far greater average attendance than it has done. But it 
seems that in the Wamsutta mills there are 225 children; in the Fo- 
tomska only 71. Of the number in the Wamsutta, 103, or nearly fifty 
per cent., are between 14 and 15 years of age; almost at the limit of 
our legal hold on them ; and It is scarcely to be expected that this class 
of the child operatives will be discharged to attend school as univer- 
sally as those who are younger. Deduct only half of them, for the 
number allowed to slide beyond the legal limit without discharge for 
another term of schooling, and we have 17-1 remaining in all, from 
which the Mill school is periodically to be replenished. Now the av 
erage number attending the Mill school is -10, who are nearly all from 
the Wamsutta mills, and who therefore constitute, as is readily seen, 
nearly a quarter of the whole number in the mills from which recruits 
may be expected to be derived. And a quarter part is the very utmost 
we have a right to count upon. Of the 25 per cent, of the children 
employed in the Potoraska mill, numbering 18, who should periodically 
be discharged to attend school, a few are to be found in the Mill school 
and more than half are distributed among the regular schools in the 
south part of the city. 

It would seem, therefore, that the agents of the mills should be 
thanked for the much they do towards the education of their child 
operatives, rather than stigmatized for what they neglect. A few in- 
stances are brought to light by the census, of children who are in the 
mills at so tender an age that it is a breach of humanity as well as of 
law that they should be employed at all. Let us hope that there are 
circumstances attending these several cases that relieve them of their 
apparently odious character. 

The Evening Schools. 

These schools have had regular sessions for 11 weeks, three even- 
ings of each week. 

The whole number of diflerent scholars in the Central school has 
been 160; of whom 53 were females, 107 males. 

The whole number of different scholars in the South school has been 
100; of whom 33 were females, 67 males. 

The average attendance on the Central school has been about GO; on 
the South school, 48. 

The corps of each school consists of a male principal and three fe- 
male assistants, who have labored steadily with interest and success. 



15(> CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION, 

Mask and Dnwing. 

These two braiiclies, once regarded in the community as onl}' tlie 
mere ornaments of a substantial education, now held to be among its 
indispensable requisites, have been pursued with constant method, 
and results that give ever increasing satisfaction. 

In the present attitude of the general public towards these seduc- 
tive pursuits, an attitude of cordial interest and large expectation, 
there is a tendency among school authorities and teachers to devote 
to them much more than their due proportion of time. It is quite 
certain that in some localities, eager for distinction in these studies, 
the schools are allowed to follow them to an extent that robs the most 
important branches of study of the attention they recjuire. This ten- 
dency the school authorities of New Bedford have lirmly resisted. 
The results in music, even in the limited time devoted to it, are ad- 
mirable ; and though our schools may not be able to present such 
striking evidences of culture in drawing as is the boast of those with 
whom this branch is sufl'ered to be unduly prominent, enough will be 
accomplished to prove the advantage to be derived from its prosecu- 
tion, while our minds will not be forced to labor under the painful 
consciousness that much of what is gained in this direction, is at the 
expense of loss in another. 

The Evening Drawing school has had an average attendance this 
season of between thirty and forty scholars, and one assistant teacher 
only has been employed, instead of two as heretofore. The character 
of the school is much the same as for the last two years. There are 
comparatively few adults seeking to obtain a more scientific and artis- 
tic knowledge of the trades they may be employed in, the majority 
being made up of the sous of our citizens not yet old enough to be 
engaged in business. But they are diligently prosecuting the study in 
orderly progress, and in the end far better i-esults will accrue from 
such effort with such material, than could be secured from the super- 
ficial and irregular undertakings of journeymen mechanics, the most 
of whom have been found to be indisposed to devote the painstaking 
labor and study which a good degree of artistic culture demands. 



APPENDIX. 157 

XXVII. 

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF NEW BEDFORD IN THE 
CENTENNIAL. 

At a meeting of the City Council, January 20tli, 187G, a communica- 
tion of vvlucli a copy follows was laid before that body by the Mayor. 

" Entcrnational Eiljibition, IS70». 
"Agkxcy of the Massachusetts Board of Educatiox 

Fou THE Department of Education and Science, 
Xo. 25 Pemberton Square, 

Boston, Dec. 9, 1875. 
" To his Honor the Mayor of New Bedford : 

" Dear Sir, — At a recent meeting of the Executive Committee of 
the Massachusetts Superintendents of Schools on the Centennial, it 
was unanimously voted to designate New Bedford as one of the two 
cities of the Commonwealth to make a collective educational exhibit 
in the International Exhibition at Philadelphia. To this action I give 
my cordial approval, as I know very well New Bedford's capability to 
make a creditable showing, and I trust that the municipal authorities 
of your city, duly appreciating the honor implied in the selection, will 
promptly adopt the measures necessary for preparing the proposed 
exhibit. 

" Very respectfully yours, 

JOHN D. PHILBRICK, Agent." 

This communication was referred; and on the second day of March, 
upon the recommendation of the Committee on Public Instruction, an 
appropriation was made "to defray the necessary expenses of the 
proposed exhibition at Philadelphia by the School Committee." 

The School Committee, in anticipation of the proceedings of the 
City Council, had already taken measures looking to an acceptance of 
the proffer of the State Centennial Commission. 

At a meeting of the Committee, December 13th, 1875, the subject 
was introduced ; and the communication to the Mayor dated December 
9th, above given, was read. 

By a unanimous vote, the subject was referred to a special commit- 
tee, consisting of the Chairman (Mayor Howland) and Messrs. Dunbar, 
Dews, Borden, and Batchelor. 

At the meeting held December 30th, the committee reported the 
following resolutions, which were unanimously adopted. 

" liesolved, That the Secretary be requested to express to Hon. J. 
D. Philbrick, the agent of the Massachusetts Centennial Commission 
for the department of education, the cordial sympathy of this Board 
in regard to the objects sought to be accomplished by the Commission 



158 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

in connection with the Centennial Exposition, and our purpose to re- 
spond to the appeal made to us bj' interested and active cooperation. 

"■' Besolved, That the honorable position assigned to our city is an 
additional inducement to mal^e exertion in the premises proportioned 
to our power. 

" Besolved, That a committee of live be api»oiuted by the Board to 
have charge of this subject, with power." 

The same gentlemen who as a committee had drawn up these reso- 
lutions constituted the new committee, and immediately proceeded to 
perfect their plans and put them in train for execution. The repre- 
sentative exhil)it specifically called for by the Commission was that of 
"the text-books, reference and other class books, philosophical appa- 
ratus, maps, globes, and all other illustrative aids, in use in the ele- 
mentary departments of a city of the second class in population." 
The committee determined to prepare their exhibit in the most thor- 
ough manner, and at the same time to avoid any superficial and 
unnecessary display. The books were borrowed directly from the 
shelves of the school-houses, presenting, in their worn and tarnished 
exteriors, the evidence of actual use; the cases procured to corwtain 
them were made in the most simple and substantial manner; the vol- 
umes of scholars' work, 70 in number, were honestly composed and 
inexpensively but conveniently bound; and all the other articles ex- 
hibited were in like manner drawn from among the actual collections 
in the school-houses, constituting a portion of their ordinary furnish- 
ing. 

In addition to books, apparatus, and volumes of scholars' work, the 
exhibit contained, — 

1. A chart, 3 feet by 4 feet, presenting in a tabulated form, carefully 
epitomized, the leading facts, historical and practical, respecting the 
educational position of the city. It includes not only the organization 
and practical condition of the public schools, but also of Friends' 
Academy and the private schools, of the Eree Public Library and the 
New Bedford Lyceum. This piece of superior penmanship is the 
work of Mr. George B. Hathaway, of this city. 

2. A perspective view and elevations of front, side and rear of the 
new high school house, each 2 feet by 3 feet in size, executed in water 
color by Mr. Arthur Cumming, teacher of drawing in the schools, and 
by him presented to the School Committee for this purpose. Also 
photographs of the Parker Street, Fifth Street, and Merrimac Street 
school-houses, and of the Free Public Library, executed by Mr. T. E. 
M. White. 

3. A brief history of the Free Public Library, together with the cat- 
alogues of its books ; a brief history of Friends' Academy ; and a 
complete set of the annual reports of the School Committee from 1840 
to the present time. These reports and histories, appropriately bound, 



APPENDIX. 



159 



are placed together in the exhibitiou, iu a case made for the purpose. 
This New Bedford Exhibit has been pronounced by competent 
judges to be highly creditable; and as there is nothing false or mer- 
etricious in its composition, its success is a subject of reasonable 
pride. 



XXVIII. 
HIGH SCHOOL HOUSE DEDICATION. 

The new High School House was dedicated with appropriate exer- 
cises September 12th, 1876, in the presence of a crowded audience, 
numbering over a thousand. The exercises were held in the hall in 
the third story, and about three hundred seats were reserved for the 
members of the city council, school committee, and other invited 
guests, among whom were many who have in past years been identi- 
fied with the educational interests of the city. 

J. Augustus Browxell, Chairman of the Joint Standing Committee 
of the City Council on Public Property, which committee has had the 
charge of the construction of the building, presented its report. 

After a few remarks on the blessings and the necessity of education, 
Mr. Brownell gave the history of the movement which had finally cul- 
minated in the erection of this beautiful house. The matter was first 
brought up in the city government about eleven years ago, though it 
had been agitated before by some of the citizens. The former high 
school, now to be occupied by the Middle Street grammar school, was 
built, he believed, in 1846. 

In May, 1865, a subcommittee of the School Committee addressed a 
petition to the City Council for more room. It was referred to the 
committee on public property, which in November reported reference 
to the next City Council. In March, 1S6G, the committee on public 
instruction reported estimates for a high school house to cost $50,000, 
and the report was placed on file and nothing further done. 

In March, 1868, the committee on public property was directed to 
procure estimates for the expense of enlarging the old high school 
house, and iu June $10,000 was appropriated to pay the cost of enlarg- 
ing. The enlargement was completed that year. 



IGO CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

In 1S73 tlie School Committee passed a resolution to petition the 
City Council for a new high school. May 20, the petition was referred 
to the committee on pul^lic instruction, which unanimously recom- 
mended granting the petition. In October, the committee on public 
property was authorized to expend .$12,000 for land for a new high 
school, and purchased the lot on which the new building stands ; which 
transaction was reported in November, and the necessary action was 
taken to meet the expense. In ]\Iarch, 1874, another petition from 
the School Committee was before the committee on public property, 
and in May that committee, with the addition of an Alderman and two 
members of the Common Council, was authorized to procure plans. 
Plans prepared by Lord & Fuller and H. G. Wadlin, of Boston, were 
reported in October, and the committee was authorized to procure 
working plans, and In November to contract for the erection of the 
building, which was done, and contracts were reported to and ap- 
proved by the City Council for the masonry, carpentry, heating appa- 
ratus, and superintendence of construction. The corner stone was 
laid May 27, 1875, and newspapers of that time contain full reports of 
the proceedings and a list of the articles placed under it, which it was 
not necessary now to enumerate. The cost has been as follows : 

Land, $12,000 

Masonry contract, §40,800 

Extra work, 1,843 42,643 

Carpentry contract, $34,782 

Extra work, 4,712 39,41)4 

Heating apparatus, 6,G75 

Ventilation, 2,825 

Fence and curbing, 6,214 

Excavation and drainage, 2,482 

Furniture, 4,446 

Plans and superintendence, 2,400 

Brick pavement, 1,350 

Incidentals 5,536 

$126,065 
Mr. Brownell then read from the Standard of August 30th a full de- 
scription of the building and list of contractors. He went on to state 
that the committee took great pleasure in commending the care and 
faithfulness with which the work had been done, and mentioned spec- 
ially the furniture and ventilation. The latter, Ijy P. Mihau, of Cam- 
bridge, was on apian approved everywhere it has been introduced, and 
favorably tested by the committee in this building. 

The house has accommodations for 336 scholars, is comfortable and 
beautiful, well heated and lighted, and the committee, Mr. Brownell 
thought, had reason to be proud, and to congratulate the citizens on 



APPENDIX. 161 

this important acquisition. But the cause for congratulation would 
be greater, if, as he trusted, by its use the character of education is 
advanced. 

Mr. Brownell, at the close of his remarks, placed the keys of the 
building into the hands of the Mayor, who responded as follows: 

"Mr. Chairman, — In accepting these keys, the agreeable duty de- 
volves upon me of extending to you and the committee you represent 
the thanks and congratulations of the City Council and the citizens of 
New Bedford, for the great care and attention, untiring zeal and en- 
ergy, you have given to the construction and completion of this spa- 
cious and costly structure erected by the bounty of the city, and which 
we now dedicate to public use, for the promotion of the welfare of the 
people. 

"You herewith present to our citizens and School Committee a 
magniiicent structure, situated upon one of the finest building sites in 
our city, bounded by public avenues upon each side, well drained, 
and surrounded by spacious grounds. The edifice itself is one of 
which every citizen may well fell proud, artistic in its architecture, 
ample in its accommodations, possessing all the modern and most ap- 
proved requisites so indispensable to the health and comfort of teachers 
and pupils. 

" The citizens of New Bedford have here erected a monument of 
their liberality and interest in the educational and intellectual culture 
of their children. It is also a fitting recognition of the one hundredth 
anniversary of the independence of our nation, a memorial of the past, 
and a monitor of the future. 

" I would also congratulate the teachers and pupils of this school 
upon being so highly favored with such school accommodations as 
these ; and in behalf of the fathers and mothers acknowledge a debt 
of gratitude for the large and generous views of public policy which 
have furnished us this excellent building. 

"As mayor of the city, I accept from you these keys in the same 
spirit of magnanimity which has prompted your committee and our 
fellow-citizens in discharging their duty to their children and children's 
children in the construction and furnishing of this edifice, dedicated 
to intellectual culture and educational pursuits. 

" I shall in due time transfer these symbols to the appropriate rep- 
resentative of the school committee." 

At the conclusion of his remarks the Mayor introduced the Hon. 
Robert C. Pitman, Judge of the Superior Court, as a citizen of New 
Bedford who was an honor to the city and whom the city delighted to 
honor. 

Judge Pitman said as a general thing he deprecated apologies, but 
as he believed any person who is to speak before an audience of the 
character here assembled should suitably prepare himself, an apology 
u 



162 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

was due to his hearers. He alluded first to Messrs. James B.Cong- 
don and John F. Emerson, who were seated beside him ; the one who, 
when he was a scholar forty years ago at Bush street, often in his 
official capacitj' as a member of the School Committee, enlivened the 
school by his cheering presence and his quick elastic step, and was 
also reverenced as the chairman of the Selectmen ; the other, before 
the high school was instituted, had given him valued assistance in his 
educational progress. The two years he spent in Bush Street school 
under the tutorship of David Armstrong, he regarded as among the 
most profitable of his life. Two thoughts he desired to present. First, 
education involves more than the preparation of accurate and finished 
scholars ; it produces noble men and women. On this point, special 
credit Avas due to Mr. Emerson. Second, he hoped New Bedford 
would not longer delay to elect some of its intelligent and capable 
women members of the School Committee. It was incredible that the 
educational interests of all the schoolgirls of the city should be in- 
trusted to a board composed entirely of men, when none so well as 
mothers know how their education should be conducted. 

John F. Emerson, the veteran teacher, whose portrait occupies a 
conspicuous place in the hall, was then introduced by the Mayor, and 
made the following interesting address. 

" Mr. Mayor, — It was, I believe, at a religious convocation in Can- 
ada, a few years ago, that a new beatitude was promulgated : ' Blessed 
is the man that maketh a short speech; he shall be invited to come 
again.' I have been invited by the High School and its friends on 
more than one occasion of interest, and hope to be again ; therefore 
I shall make a short speech. AVith your permission, my friends, I 
shall indulge in a few reminiscences of my school life in New Bedford. 

"It will be fifty years the 26th day of the coming December since 
my first arrival in your city. What a contrast between then and now ! 
But this is not the time or the occasion to enlarge upon that contrast, 
however interesting it might be. My first engagement here was that 
of an assistant teacher in the Friends' Academy, under J. II. W. Page, 
Esq., the principal. That was the commencement of a lifelong friend- 
ship between us, and his worth and success as a teacher will be at- 
tested by all those who had the good fortune to be his pupils. I held 
that position for two terms only, when the first High school was es- 
tablished, and I was appointed its master. It was kept in what was 
then called the green schoolhouse, on Charles street. The number 
of scholars, I think, was limited to forty, and altogether it was a very 
diff"ereut establishment from the present school, with its costly and 
varied surroundings. There may be some in this assembly who were 
my pupils at that time, and if there arc, I call upon them to bear wit- 
ness that we were a happy company, and that fiiir progress, at least, 
was made in school studies. I hope I shall be pardoned if I appear a 



APPENDIX. 163 

little egotistical in speaking of this period. I had had but little expe- 
rience as a teacher, and was naturallj'. ambitious to make a good school. 
I had the time-honored Friends' Academy to compete with, presided 
over by the excellent teacher whom I have already named. I recollect 
tliat at the close of one term there was one vacancy, and that the 
committee spent an entire day in examining candidates who were 
anxious to secure the place. A large proportion of those first ad- 
mitted retained their seats, and consequently the number of disap- 
pointed applicants soon became large. Another cause of complaint, 
and one that produced a strong feeling of opposition to the school, 
was that two or three families that were considered abundantly able 
to pay for the tuition of their children, secured and continued to re- 
tain an undue proportion of the seats. At the expiration of tw'o years 
from the establishment of the school, the opposition became so pow- 
erful that an article was inserted in the warrant for the annual town 
meeting to see if the town would abolish the High school and appro- 
priate the same amount expended for its support to one or more infant 
schools. It was a sad prospect to me, to look forward to the discon- 
tinuance of the school, as I had no other means of support. I went 
to the town meeting in a very despondent frame of mind. The cause 
of the school was advocated most eloquently by the late T. G. Coffin, 
Esq., and the opposition was led by Dudley Davenport, Esq., whom 
those who were in active life at the time will remember as a man of 
strong feelings and indomitable energy, as well as of great personal 
worth. He had tried repeatedly for the admission of his children to 
the school, and failed. He then formed the resolution to abolish the 
school, if possible, and his impassioned appeal produced such an eflect 
that it seemed to me when the vote was taken that every hand in the 
hall went up in support of his side of the case, and the doom of the 
school was sealed. Mr. Davenport had no personal feeling against 
me, as was subsequently shown by his action in retiring from the hall, 
when he accosted me and said that he had heard I proposed to open a 
private school ; if so, he wished to put his children under my instruc- 
tion. This he did, and they remained my pupils till they left school. 

" I began at once what I continued to call the High school, and never 
had cause to complain of a want of patronage. Many of my pupils 
then are among the most honored and useful of the citizens of New 
Bedford, and also of other cities. 

" I was a member of the School Committee for most of the time that 
I was a private teacher, and remember with great pleasure my associ- 
ation on that board with several gentlemen who are doubtless here 
today, and have always been identified with the cause of education. 
I should do injustice to my own feelings, as well as disappoint your 
just anticipations, if I failed to mention in this connection my warm 
friend and co-laborer in education, Thomas A. Greene, Esq. You 



164 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

all remember his devotion to the schools of the city, and no one had a 
better opportunity than myself to estimate the obligations of the city 
to him in this respect. He took so deep an interest in the High school 
that at last he knew almost every pupil by name. If his life had been 
continued to the present time, and he could have been with us on this 
occasion, his heart would have rejoiced in the ceremonies of this ded- 
ication. 

"Another name will always be remembered when we speak of the 
schools. Public Library, and other kindred institutions of the city, — 
James B. Congdon, Esq. But if I should attempt to enumerate all 
the friends of good learning that I have labored with in your city, the 
list would be too long for your patience. 

"The graduates of the High school for the quarter of a century 
that it was under my charge, are scattered through the length and 
breadth of the land. I meet them wherever I go. I never .fail to re- 
ceive a cordial recognition, and I always find them prepared to put a 
higher value upon my services than I think I deserve. They are found 
in the learned professions, in the marts of commerce and trade, and 
some few, at least, have achieved no mean distinction. Albert Bikr- 
STADT, the artist, took his first lessons in drawing in your High school. 
I doubt not there are some present who have specimens of monochro- 
matic drawing which they executed under his teaching previous to his 
visit to Europe. 

" I cannot fail to remember my young friend and former pupil. Pro- 
fessor Charles F. Chandler, of the School of Mines, New York. 
My ten years residence in Bx'ooklyn has afibrded me ample means of 
knowing his high reputation as a chemist. As President of the Board 
of Health, he holds a position of great responsibility, and one for the 
duties of which he seems specially qualified. 

"Rev. Alp:xander Mackekzie, the son of your late townsman 
Capt. Daniel Mackenzie, is a clergyman of great worth and high re- 
pute for a young man. He is settled over a church in Cambridge, near 
Harvard College, a position demanding culture and varied learning. I 
remember him as a most exemplary and painstaking scholar. 

" I congratulate the city of New Bedford on the possession of tliis 
splendid edifice for tlie accommodation of the High school. It aflbrds 
ample testimony to the taste and sound judgment of all concerned in 
its erection. I congratulate the youth of the city, for whose benefit 
this lavish expenditure has been made, on the increased facilities and 
ample provisions furnished them for the prosecutidn of stud}' and the 
acquisition of sound learning. 

"I congratulate the worthy principal who has presided over this 
school for so many years, on the success that has crowned his labors 
in the past, and the cheering prospect for the future, in the unsur- 
passed accommodations with which he will now he provided. 



APPENDIX. 165 

"I congratulate the faithful assistant teachers of this school on 
their good fortune in being called to labor where there are so many 
omens of success to encourage them in their arduous toils." 

AisNER J. riiipps, of Medford, General Agent of the State Board of 
Education, was the next speaker. Mr. Phipps was for many years a 
teacher in New Bedford, and at one time Superintendent of the Public 
Schools. 

Mr. Phipps said it was 29 years this day (Sept. 12th) since he be- 
came Principal of the Friend's Academy, and 12 years since he left the 
position of Superintendent of Schools. He said two of the most 
prominent facts brought to mind in this year of centennial reflections 
were the progress In the character of school buildings and the in- 
creased provision for high schools. In 1838 the valuation of all the 
public schoolhouses in the State was $550,000, and now it was 620,- 
000,000, one schoolhouse being valued at $300,000 and another $200,- 
000, and there is quite a number worth over §100,000. In 1838 there 
were 1-i high schools, now over 200. High schools were however es- 
tablished in a very early period of our history. They were then called 
grammar schools, and were required to be of a grade suitable to fit 
scholars for "ye university." Some of the twenty-five dollar school- 
houses remain, but they are in towns where property is so much re- 
duced in value that with the utmost economy taxes are very high. 
Mr. Phipps also extended his congratulations on the character of the 
building, specially noting the blackboards of real slate. He did not 
know of a more perfect schoolhouse. 

Prof. Tweed, of the Board of Supervisors of the schools of Boston, 
was introduced, and amusingly contrasted the house with the one 
from which he graduated 50 years ago. There may be those who 
grumble at the increased expenses of schools, but they only keep pace 
with the prosperity of the country. It is somewhat doubted whether 
the methods of teaching keep pace with the houses and appliances, 
and unfortunately it cannot be very accurately determined. He be- 
lieved, however, tliat the modes of teaching had greatly advanced. 

Mr. John Tetlow, Principal of the Friends' Academy, spoke of the 
great expenditure for the High school. He did not mean to be un- 
derstood as opposed to free education, but the public has an immense 
demand upon the school. The school is in charge of the committee, 
the teachers, and the public. The committee should select teachers 
in whom they have confidence, and after general directions should 
leave them alone. Parents and pupils should consider it is their duty 
to consider the teacher. Unless this school sends out first class citi- 
zens it cannot vindicate its own existence. 

The Mayor then presented to the Hon. Alanson Boijden, Chairman 
of the subcommittee on the High School, the keys of the new building, 
and spoke as follows : 



166 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

" Mu. CiiAiuMAN, — To you, representing the School Committee of 
our city, I consign this building, a munificent gift from the citizens of 
New Bedford to their children. The public authorities have furnished 
you with a building suited to your wants, and I have no misgivings as 
to the wisdom which shall govern or the success which will ever at- 
, tend the administration of this school. And now, Mr. Chairman, in 
the belief that this magnificent structure will be found worthy of tlie 
purposes for which it has been constructed, worthy of the enlightened 
teachers who will impart knowledge to those seeking information here, 
worthy of the public spirit and progress of the city of New Bedford, 
I deliver it, by this symbolical passing of keys into your charge, a 
completed and perfect edifice." 

In response to the address of the Mayor, Judge Borden remarked 
that he accepted the keys not with unmixed feelings of pleasure; he 
felt the full weight of responsibility which they symbolized. Happily 
for himself, he expected in a few months to lay down that responsi- 
bility. In view of what is afforded for education in New Bedford, by 
liberal appropriations and from the Sylvia Ann Rowland bequest, the 
responsibility was almost too much to bear. The school should be 
.able to fit scholars for college as well or better than any other in the 
State. He believed it had facilities superior to any other in the State, 
and hoped to hear of many of its graduates honoring themselves at 
Yale, Harvard, Tufts, Boston University, Vassar, and Smith's College. 
The school should be so good that no other of the same grade can 
exist in the city. A very important thing, something beyond intellec- 
tual attainments, is intellectual enthusiasm. Judge Borden looked 
back with grateful remembrance to one teacher who inspired his pupils 
with such enthusiasm that nearly every one Avonld get up at 4 a. m. in 
the winter to engage in study. But this school is not all for college; 
most of its pupils come here to end their studies, and if they were en- 
thusiastic here their attainments would not wear out in the future but 
would scarcely be defaced. If the future School Committees shall so 
manage the school, the people will be willing to pour out their thou- 
sands for its support. 

Charles P. Rugg, Esq., Principal of the High School, received the 
keys from Judge Borden. He promised that the earnest efforts of 
himself and his assistants would be put forth to merit the trust and 
confidence of the community. 

Among the invited guests present were Dr. James M. Aldrich, chair- 
man of the school committee, and William Council, Jr., superintend- 
ent of schools, of Fall River; A. P. Marble, superintendent of schools 
in Worcester, and the superintendent of public buildings in the same 
city, whose name we did not learn. 

The arrangements were admirably made by the committee on public 



APPENDIX. 



167 



property, Messrs. J. Augustus Brownell, William G. Taber, William 
J. Boweu, Henry C. Denison, and George Nelson. 

The whole building was charmingly decorated with flowers. A very 
handsome bouquet on the pianoforte was contributed by William 
Peirce, and the others were furnished and arranged by the assistant 
teachers. In the principal's room was a splendid amaryllis with about 
ninety blossoms, furnished by Mrs. Harry J. Leach. 

After the dedication, the people inspected all parts of the building, 
and much gratification was expressed with its appearance. 



XXIX. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW HIGH SCHOOL HOUSE. 

[From the Evening Standard of August oOth.] 
This fine building is now nearly completed, and the finishing touches 
are being put on the painting and furnishings. The building is large 
enough to meet all the requirements of the High school for a great 
many years to come, elegant in design, and carefully fitted in every 
way for its destined use. The Committee of the City Council on Pub- 
lic Property has the credit from the School Committee of doing every- 
thing possible to meet the views of the latter body in adapting every 
detail carefully to its purpose. 

The building occupies au entire block of land, about three fourths of 
an acre, bounded by Summer, Mill, Chestnut and North streets, a high 
and commanding situation, and from a distance it is the most promi- 
nent object in the city. Collaterally, the view from the tower is ex- 
tensive and fine. 

The building is of brick, with Amherst (Ohio) freestone trimmings, 
and underpinning and basement window sills of Rockport granite. It 
is three stories high, with a flat-topped hip roof, the slopes slated and 
the flat tinned. The front on Summer street is 95 feet, and the width 
92 feet. The Summer street entrance is under a projecting portico 21 
by 15 feet. Over the centre front are a tower and spire. The brick 
are laid in black mortar. 

In the first story, the east vestibule is 15 by 29 feet, and opens into 



168 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

a larger vestibule, which, with stairways leading up from entrances at 
the north and south, cloak-rooms, &c., occupies a space extending the 
whole length of the building and 25 feet wide. Forty-seven feet length 
of this, in the centre, is clear and unobstructed. Opening from this 
main hall-way are two school-rooms at the east 30 by 3G feet, and two 
at the west 30 by 35 feet, occcupying the corners of the building. The 
westerly part of the building is 1C9 feet long, projecting both north 
and south far enough to give the westerly school-rooms each an east- 
erly window. Between the westerly rooms on the first floor are a 
library 1(3 by 2fii feet, and a private room for teachers U by 26^ feet. 

The second story is like the first, except that over the east vestil)ule 
is a room for the principal, and over the library an apparatus room. 
The southwest room is to be devoted to philosophical experiments, 
and the windows are provided with patent rolling dark shutters. 

In the third story are two school-rooms in the easterly corners, and 
between them an ante-room and a stairway leading to the tower. 
"West of these rooms are a range of cloak-rooms, &c., and the westerly 
part of the third story is appropriated to an assembly hall for the 
whole school, 43 by 104i feet. The northeast room in this story will 
be the apartment for lessons in drawing, and it has been provided with 
stools and tables, some of which were formerly used in the public 
evening drawing schools in Sears Hall. They have been neatly stained 
and varnished. The adjoining ante-rooms are fitted for the reception 
of drawing-boards and frames. 

The basement will have a laboratory under the southeast school- 
room and a chemical store-room north of it, water-closets under the 
west rooms, and a boiler-room, janitor's room, and coal-room, under 
the library and teachers' private room. The laboratory has been fitted 
up with every possible convenience and the best style of apparatus 
for the work to be done in the room, on the same plan that was pur- 
sued in the State Normal School at Bridgewater. 

The tower is ISi feet wide, projecting two feet, and above the roof 
is enlarged to 20i feet square. 

The basement is 11 feet high in the clear (5 feet above ground); 
school-rooms in each story 15 feet ; and the assembly hall 17 feet high 
at the ends and 20 feet high for 50 feet of its length in the centre. 
The tower room in the fourth story is 27 feet high, and in the fifth 14 
feet. Tlie height from the ground to the eaves is 56 feet ; to the top 
of the roof, 78 feet ; to top of tower, 98 feet ; to summit of spire, 139 

feet. 

The cloak-rooms in the first and second stories are in double tiers 7 
feet high, part of them opening from landings half way up each flight 
of stairs. 

The attic, 19 feet high, has only six small dormer windows, and will 



APPENDIX. 169 

be uuused except iu the towei'-room and by the raised ceiliug of the 
assembly hall and such space as is occupied by ventilating pipes. 

The plans for the building were made by Lord & Fuller and II. G. 
Wadlin, of Boston, and it has been erected under their supervision, 
and is well and thoroughly constructed iu every respect. Mr. Augus- 
tus A. Greene has been their agent to supervise the work. The prin- 
cipal contractors were Dearborn Bros. & Co., of Boston, masons ; 
Solomon Chadwick, carpenter; Ingalls & Keudricken, of Boston, steam 
heating apparatus; P. Mihau, of Cambridge, ventilation. 

The heating apparatus is built under Clogston's patents, and has 
proved to be economical. The piping is arranged so as to obviate the 
disagreeable snapping sound often heard in steam heating pipes, and 
the heat is obtained by indirect radiation, all the radiators being placed 
in air flues in the basement. 

The ventilation is so planned as to insure a draft in the ventilating 
flues both from the top and bottom of each room. This has been long 
a difticult problem, the tendency being to ventilate only from the top 
by the levity of the heated air when both registers open into the same 
flue; aud if diflerent flues are used the result has been no better, or 
perhaps resulting in a downward draught to the lower register. Mr. 
Mihan's plan is to conduct a tin pipe from the lower register through 
the centre of the flue ventilating from the upper register. The warm 
air in the outer flue heats the air inside the pipe, aud thus creates a 
draught from below. 

The inside finish is ash, white-filled and shellacked, aud the walls 
of the rooms are painted in delicate grays, drabs, pearls, lavenders, 
&c., each room a diflerent tint. 

The school desks, the chairs for four rooms to be occupied by the 
lower grades of the school, and all the teachers' desks aud tables are 
from the Sterling School Furniture Co., of Sterling, 111. Ninety set- 
tees in the hall are from the same company, and are made with cast- 
iron frames, while the seats turn up against the backs like opera seats. 
There are 100 settees of the common pattern from the Fitchburg Chair 
Co., and the same concern has furnished cane-seated oak chairs with 
rubber feet for the scholars of the four upper-grade rooms. The Ster- 
ling chairs are on bronzed iron frames fastened to the floor. The 
backs and seats are of cherry slats, and the seats lift up. 

The teachers' rooms and library are carpeted with drab and red, and 
the building contains twelve clocks. 

The lot is surrounded with heavy granite curbing and posts, and is 
to have a wrought-iron fence. 

In the belfry at the top of the tower is a heavy flre alarm bell struck 
by the telegraphic apparatus. 
V 



170 



CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 



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APPENDIX. 



171 



APPROPRIATIONS OF THE CITY OP NEW BEDFORD FOR THE YEAR 
ENDING MARCH IST, 1877. 

Support of public scliools, (pay of teachers,) $56,000.00 

«« «' (iacideutals,) . • - • 17,500.00 

Repairs of hii^lnvays, $10,000 

streets, 33,400 43,400.00 

" public property, 8,000.00 

Support of the poor, 28,000.00 

Fire department, 23,000.00 

Lighting the streets, 11,400.00 

Salaries, H'OOO.OO 

Police department, 31,000.00 

Water works, (by ordinance,) 12,000.00 

Tree Public Library, 3,300.00 

New Bedford Bridge, 2,000.00 

City debt, m,32G.OO 

Discount on taxes, 10,000.00 

Rural Cemetery, 1,200.00 

Special appropriations, 1875, 53,589.14 

Incidental expenses, 14,284.86 

$424,000.00 

INDEBTEDNESS OF THE CITY OF NEW BEDFORD, JANUARY IST, 18 < 6. 

The bonds issued by the city of New Bedford, and now 

outstanding, amount to §1,198,000.00 

Of this sum the water bonds are 700,000.00 

Indebtedness other than water bonds $498,000.00 

This amount, $498,000, represents the whole indebtedness of the 

city for the sums borrowed from time to time for war purposes and 

for public improvements. 
The city has no other indebtedness, excepting a temporary loau 

made in anticipation of the receipts from the taxes in October next. 

The public property, as appraised by a committee of the 
City Council, has a valuation of $1,778,413.34 

The city's indebtedness, as stated above, is, 1,198 ,000.00 

Balance of property over indebtedness, $580,413.34 

The water works alone have had expended upou them, and are 
valued at, a sum which is but about two hundred thousand dollars 
short of the whole indebtedness of the city. 



172 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

The valuation of the water works is $1,000,000.00 

The water bonds amount to 700,000.00 

The balance, .$300,000.00 

lias been met from sources which have not increased the indebted- 
ness of the city. 

To meet the obligations connected with a bequest to the city, a per- 
petual annuity of six thousand dollars in aid of the ¥ree Public Library 
and the Free Public Schools is to be provided for. 

The debt, independent of the water dei)t, is .$498,000.00 

In 1863 the whole debt was 425,000.00 

Increase since 18G3, 13 years, $73,000.00 

The amount of the debt of the city of New Bedford, and the pay- 
ments to be annually made thereupon are shown by the following 
statement. 

1876 $20,000 

1877, 30,000 

1878, 25,000 

1879, 37,000 

1880, . 27,000 

1881, 25,000 

1882, 25,000 

1883, 35,000 

1884, 41,000 

1885, 35,000 

1886, 35,000 

1887, 35,000 

1888, 35,000 

1889, 35,000 

1890, 35,000 

1891, 40,000 

1892, 40,000 

1893, 33,000 

1894, 30,000 

1895 30,000 

1896, 30,000 

1897, 30,000 

1898, 30,000 

1899, 30,000 

1900, 40,000 

1901, 40,000 

1902, 40,000 

1903, 40,000 

1904 40,000 

1905, 40,000 



APPENDIX. 173 

1906, 40,000 

1907, 40,000 

1908, 40,000 

1909, 40,000 

1910, 30,000 

^1,198,000 
The valuation of the city for the year 1876, as made by the assessors 
for the purposes of taxation, is as follows : 

Real estate $12,411,200.00 

Personal estate, 11,866,900.00 

Banlj stock 2,472,102.00 

$26,750,202.00 

To this should be added the sura of two millions of dollars of cor- 
poration property taxed by the State, and the bank stock held by our 
residents in banks out of the city. The deposits in our savings banks 
are about ten millions of dollars, no part of which is included in the 
city valuation. 



XXXL 
MAYORS OF NEW BP:DF0RD. 

Abraham H. Howland, 1847, 1848, 1849, 1850, 1851. 

William J. Rotch, 1852. 

Rodney French, 1853, 1854. 

George Ilowland, Jr., 1855, 1856, 1863, 1864, 1865, and about three 
months of 1862. 

George H. Dunbar, 1857, 1858, 1873. The municipal year was 
changed In 1857, so that his first term was nine mouths. 

Willard Nye, 1859. 

Isaac C. Taber, 1860, 1861, and to September 29, 1862. 

John H. Perry, 1866, 1867. 

Andrew G. Pierce, 1868, 1869. 

George B. Richmond, 1870, 1871, 1872, 1874. 

Abraham TI. Howland, Jr., 1875, 1876. 



174 CENTENNIAL CELEBKATION. 

All these gentlemen but three were born in New Bedford. William 
J. Rotch was born in Philadelphia, Rodney French in Berkley, and 
Willard Nye in Sandwich. 

Three arc deceased : Abraham H. Howlaud, Willard Nye, and Isaac 
C. Taber. 

Isaac C. Taber is the only one who has died while holding the office. 

It is believed that eight of these can trace their ancestry back to the 
soil of old Dartmouth previous to the American revolution. 

Our present mayor is the son of the first. 

George Ilowland, Jr., has held the office the longest, — three months 
over five years. 



XXXII. 

GOVERNMENT OF THE CITY OF NEW BEDFORD, 

187G. 

MAYOR. 
ABRAHAM H. ROWLAND, JR. 



ALDERMEN. 

Ward I. JONATHAN C. HAWES. 

2. WILLIAM T. SOULE. 

3. WILLIAM G. TABER. 

4. J. AUGUSTUS BROWNELL. 

5. JOHN B. BAYLIES. 

6. GEORGE R. STETSON. 



CITY CLEUK AND CLERK OF THE BOARD OF MAYOR AND ALDERMEN. 

HENRY T. LEONARD. 



COMMON COUNCIL. 

President, — Edwin Dews. 

Ward One, — George H. Freeman, John Wing, Henry L, Dunham, 
Paul S. Hathaway. 



APPENDIX. 175 

Ward Two, — James A. Crowell, Luther G. Hewins, Jr., Charles A. 
Case, Lemuel T. Terry. 

Ward Three, — Charles W. Coggeshall, William H. Titman, Augus- 
tus Swift, James G. Wilson. 

Ward Four, —William A. Beard, Lemuel C. Wilbur, Thomas M. 
Denham, Frederick S. Potter. 

Ward Five, — Edwin Dews, Antoue L. Si'lvia, Jonathan Howlaud, 
Jr., Henry C. Denison. 

Ward Six, — William J. Bowen, George Nelson, John P. Taylor, 
Edmund Grinnell. 

Clerk of the Common Council, —William A. Church. 



SCHOOL COMMITTEE. 

Abraham H. Howland, Jr., Mayor, e% officio Chairman. 

Edwin Dews, President of the Common Council, ex officio. 

Ward One,— Alanson Borden, Henry F. Thomas, Joseph H. Cornell. 

Ward Two, — Ivory S. Cornish, Charles R. Price, James W. Hervey. 

Ward Three, —John Spare, Isaac W. Benjamin, Benjamin S. Batch- 
elor. 

Ward Four, — Hosea M. Knowlton, George H. Dunbar, Stephen W. 
Hayes. 

Ward Five, — Edmund Rodman, Lemuel ]M. Kollock, James L. Sher- 
man. 

Ward Six, — Isaac H. Coe, Bartholomew Otheman, Jr., Charles H. 
Sanford. 

Secretary of the School Committee, and Superintendent of Schools,— 
Henry F. Harrington. 

TRUSTEES OF THE I-'REE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 

Abraham H. Howland, Jr., Mayor, ex officio President. 
Edwin Dews, President of the Common Council, ex officio. 
John B. Baylies, Chairman Committee on Public Instruction, ex officio. 
S. Griffitts Morgan, Thomas H. Knowles, George Howland, Jr., 
George H. Dunbar, Warren Ladd, Oliver A. Roberts. 
Clerk of the Board, — Oliver A. Roberts. 
Superintendent of the Library, — George H. Dunbar. 
Librarian, —Robert C. lugraham. 



ACUSHXET WATER BOARD. 

Abraham II. Howland, Jr., Mayor, ex officio President. 
Edwin Dews, President of the Common Council, ex officio. 
George Howland, Jr., Henry F. Thomas, Thomas Bennett, Jr. 
Clerk of the Water Board, — James B. Congdou. 



i;j«(«»t:s?*:lK: 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




